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Reminiscences 

of 



Frontier Life 



By 

I. B. HAMMOND 



Reminiscences 

of Frontier Life 



Compliments of 

I. B. HAMMOND 

PORTLAND, OREGON 



1904 



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LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Twe Copies Received 

FEB 15 1904 

V Copyright Entry 

' Copy s / 



COPYRIGHTED 
1904 



INTRODUCTION. 

At the request of my friends I have endeavored to 
relate a few of the mcidents connected with my life in 
the West. 

In the following pages will be found some of my 
actual experiences as far as I can write them from mem- 
ory. I have made twenty-five trips to Alaska, been many 
times through ^Mexico, British Columbia and England, 
and during the last thirty-three years' travel have seen 
many things that would make interesting reading were 
it in the hands of a writer. I hope my short-comings 
will be overlooked, as these pages are only as reminis- 
cences for my friends. 

I. B. HAMMOND, 
Portland, Oregon. 



CONTENTS. 

Page 
Introduction ---------------- 3 

How I Happened to Go West ---------- 9 

An Indian Scare --------------- 9 

A Fig'ht Between Wild Animals ---------15 

A Buffalo Stampede -------------- 21 

Locating- a Colony, Part I.— A Prairie Fire ------ 26 

Locating a Colony, Part II. — A Nebraska Blizzard - - - 34 
Sour Bread or No Bread ------------ 38 

Buffalo's Lament (Poem) ------------43 

The Downfall of Big Steve ----------- 44 

My German Friend --------------47 

The Milkman's Revenge ------------51 

Custer's Massacre --------------55 

A Runaway Train --------------58 

Mine Salting ----------------62 

A Preaching Expert -------- 68 

My First Trip to Alaska ------------74 

A Stampede for Gold -------------78 

The Midnight Sun -------------. 86 

A Tidal Wave ---------------- 92 

A Glacier (Poem) --------------97 

A Trip to the Seven Devils Mountain --------98 

Getting Off My High Horse ----------- 104 

Romance Without Love ---- -.. 107 

A Trip to Nome --------------- 110 

Meeting on the Trail ------------- 115 

My English Friend -------------- 117 

Mining Definitions -------------- 118 

A Free Bath ---------------- 120 

The Go-Devil ---------------- 122 

Resources in a Mining Camp ----------- 125 

Boring an Engine Cylin<ler ----------- 127 

Packing Machinery -------------- 128 

A Trailing Letter ----- 130 

Early Days in the Black Hills -- -- 131 

I. B. Hammond, the Pioneer (Poem) -------- 135 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Page 

Portrait of I. B. Hammond ----- - S 

A Fight Between Wild Animals --------- 19 

A Buffalo Stampede ------------- 25 

A Prairie Fire --------------- 31 

The Downfall of Big Steve ----------- 46 

The Milkman's Revenge -----------52 

Custer's Massacre (Poem) -----------56 

A Runaway Train -------------- 5g 

Mine Salting ---------------- 67 

My First Trip to Alaska ------------ 74 

A Tidal Wave ---------------- 95 

The Go-Devil ---------------- 124 

Packino' Maehinerv -------------- 129 




I. B. HAMMOND. 



HOW I HAPPENED TO GO WEST. 

During the Civil War, when every able-bodied man 
was being sought for the army, I was the elder of two 
sons, . and very naturally felt it my duty to join. I 
enlisted and passed county inspection, and with the rest 
of a company which I had joined, went to Joliet, Illinois, 
to be examined by United States inspecting physicians 
for muster into the army. We went into camp and 
soon were called for medical examination. I was examined 
by a young doctor, who reported that my lungs were 
affected and turned me over to older physicians, who 
confirmed his report and rejected me as unfit for service. 
So, as a consumptive, I went home and my parents 
became very much worried in regard to my health. 1 
tried twice more to join the army but was rejected in 
each case. I then consulted an old family physician, who 
said the best thing for me to do was to go west into the 
mountains. Two months later found me headed for the 
West, and so far as I know the tuberculosis was lost in 
the shuffle that followed the doctor's advice— a very 
strenuous shuffle out on the sage plains and among the 
mountains of the blessed West. 



AN INDIAN SCARE. 

My first adventure in the Rocky Mountains will be 
always as. fresh in my memory, I believe, as at the time 
it happened. 

I was accompanying a geological surveying party 
over the main range of the Rockies across the Big Horn 
]\Iountains and tlirough what is now the National Park, 



10 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

to Fort Benton on the IMissouri River.' Probably not 
ten miles of onr route had been trodden by white men 
at that time. ^Many times Ave were prepared to be 
slaughtered by the Indians, could we have found some 
obliging- redskin to do the job. and it would have taken 
but an Indian head-dress and a red blanket to massacre 
the entire party. 

A single moccasin track would work us up to such a 
pitch of excitement that, sleeping or waking, our imag- 
inations peopled the woods on all sides of us with blood- 
thirsty savages. 

AVhile imder the stress of one of these periodical 
excitements our ponies and nniles stampeded and they 
found ready followers in the seven (very) pale-faces 
who felt the vital importance of keeping up with the rest 
of the procession. We deemed it wise to stay with the 
ponies even were there no Indians in the whole country. 
Our position was almost the same as the Irishman's who 
had gone hunting rabbits without a lock to his gun. 

"Divil a bit o' lock has yez in yer old gun!" said his 
companion. 

"Whist now," says Pat, "the rabbits don't know it." 

Nor did we know, when our nniles snorted and became 
uneasy, but that there might have been thousands of 
redskins concealed in the bushes about us. 

At one point of our journey, in pitching our camp for 
the night, we selected a good place to keep our stock. 
We were surrounded by a creek, in a complete circle, 
excepting a small neck of laud which we occupied, and 
over which they would have to pass in escaping us. We 
had just about finished supper when the watch-dog of 
our herd, a large black mule, began to snort. We had 



An Indian Scare. 11 

previously trained the mule to give evidence of approach 
of man or beast by taking him beyond the herd and 
tieing him up alone and then by careful maneuvering 
scai'ing the animal to such an extent that he would re- 
member his lesson; He had become so watchful that not 
a wild animal, or even a bird, could come to our neigh- 
borhood without his giving us the usual signal with his 
unnuisical snorting. 

We had grown somewhat nervous from having seen 
some moccasin tracks in the afternoon and were prepared 
to jump and nm behind the first tree we could reach, 
when our trained mule gave another snort, as the sign 
of alarm, which made every man jump and reach for his 
gun. In loading his gun, one of our party accidentally 
discharged his rifle, which added to the excitement, and 
at the crack of the gun the stock came towards us on 
the dead run. I endeavored to stop the animals and 
expected to get a bullet from some redskin, as I supposed 
the shot fired was from the Indians. I fully realized the 
importance of saving the stock, and made a desperate 
effort to stop the animals, but they rushed toward us, 
maddened with fright, and we saw that they would 
trample us under their feet, so let them pass. But all 
hope of keeping them M'as not yet gone. I caught hold 
of the picket rope, which was being dragged along by 
the frightened animals, but the rope slipped through my 
fingers, and the picket pin, Avhich was fastened to the 
end, struck me a terrific blow on the head, that almost 
knocked me senseless. My first impression was that I 
was being scalped, and not until I had put up my hand 
and found my hair safe, did I realize what had happened. 

After collecting my scattered thoughts, I started for 



12 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

the stock, which had by this time gone out of sight. I 
ran a short distance when it occurred to me that I 
had left my gun behind and had only a revolver with me, 
but as I dared not lose the stock I kept on, although the 
thought of being compelled to go on without my rifle was 
not a pleasant one. The further I got from camp the 
more dreadful the thought became, and I censured myself 
for being caught in such a predicament, without provis- 
ions and not even a gun with which to defend myself or 
to kill something to eat. 

Everything was now still as death, not a sound from 
man or beast in any direction ; but one consoling thought 
remained— that I had come within sight of ponies and 
mules, which were now going quite slowly, and in a 
short time I was enabled to creep up near enough to make 
fast the picket rope, and feel that the stock was safe. 
I was suffering great pain from the blow I had received 
from the picket pin, which did not leave me with very 
clear ideas in a time of need. 

Now came the moment of my discontent — out alone 
in an Indian country, without food or gun and wondering 
if my companions had all been killed, without even 
firing a shot. I kept turning this over in my mind, and 
as the night wore on, concluded to make my way back 
' to the vicinity of our camp and endeavor to see or hear 
of my comrades. 

Leaving the stock in a secure place, I cautiously moved 
toward camp, walking about an hour, in the direction in 
which I supposed the camp to lie, to a side hill over- 
looking the creek ; but I could not locate the camp ground. 
I stood looking around for some familiar spot, when I 
saw the flash of a rifle, which I knew was pointed at me. 



An Indian Scare. 13 

I instantly dropped to the ground to avoid the bullet, 
but not quite in time, for though at such long range and 
at night, the aim was good, and the leaden messenger 
whizzed through my vest and coat sleeve, making my 
flesh tingle from the sting. During the next ten minutes 
there Avas some expert crawling from that neighborhood 
and over the hill, and on reaching the other side my 
strides were long and fast in the direction of the ponies. 
This last experience was a puzzle to me and I could not 
solve the problem to my satisfaction. I could not decide 
which way to go, but finally concluded that I must find 
my comrades, dead or alive, as I knew it was impossible 
for me to reach any settlement in my present condition. 
I moved the stock over the hill and down into a ravine, 
and once more made the animals secure. 

By this time daylight was beginning to appear, and 
the break of day enabled me to look up and down the 
creek from my position without being seen. I waited 
patiently for some time, and my patience was rewarded 
by the appearance of three men coming around a point 
of timber, and in a few minutes more I saw two more 
come from another direction. I soon recognized them 
as belonging to our party, and was almost overcome by 
the thought of meeting my comrades once more. But 
where was the seventh man? I could not help thinking 
that he must have been killed by the Indians. I won- 
dered why some one else was not killed and why those 
men were there if they had been attacked by the Indians. 
I felt sure that a fight had taken place, as I was still 
smarting from the sting of the bullet. 

After making sure that I could not be mistaken, I 
ventured to put in an appearance, much to the delight 



14 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

of all, who were mourning the loss of the stock along 
with two members of the party. After satisfying them 
with regard to the animals, they asked where Young (the 
missing man) was. I had not dared to ask them first, 
fearing they would say he had been killed ; but on looking 
around we caught sight of our poor comrade, and when 
he appeared we felt as if we had all been spared from a 
horrible death. We felt sure that he must be wounded, 
and on asking if he was shot, he replied: 

"Me shot? No; but I think that red devil will not 
scare another party again." 

"Who?" and "What?" were the anxious inquiries 
on our part. 

"Well," said he, "you know when I went to get my 
gun, after the mule began to whistle, in some way or other 
I discharged it, and on looking around every man of you 
had left me. I then heard the confounded red devils in 
the brush going down the creek after the horses, so I 
knew they were after them and not our scalps. I then 
followed the creek, hoping to get sight of them, and lay 
in ambush until near daybreak, when sure enough, way 
up on the hillside, I saw one of the cusses, and I think 
you can get his scalp by going after it." 

Then came my turn. "Then you are the red devil 
who shot at me?" at the same time showing them the 
buttonhole he had made in my sleeve. I never saw a 
paler man than he was for a few minutes, and he trem- 
bled from head to foot. Now came the time for investiga- 
ting into the cause of all this scare. We were rewarded 
in our search by finding tracks of a buffalo, which had 
followed up the dry creek to get water, and had found 
a hole containing water in the vicinity of our camp. The 



A Fight Between Wild Animals. 15 

mule, acting as our watch-dog, had scented the buffalo, 
began to snort, and then followed the stampede of the 
stock that scared the senses out of the entire party. 

Mr. Young, on recovering from his fainting fit, asked 
in a low tone, if there was any one who wanted to shoot 

a d fool, and added that he knew where there was 

one who needed killing. 



A FIGHT BETWEEN WILD ANIMALS. 

Many years ago, I was connected with a survey party, 
located at that time in the Rocky Mountains, in Wyoming- 
Territory, our object being to ascertain the most feasible 
route whereby a railroad could be built north of the 
Union Pacific Railroad survey, and south of the British 
possessions, to the Pacific Coast. 

After considerable inquiry regarding the country we 
were about to go through, wiiich was but very little 
known and quite unexplored, we obtained what informa- 
tion was necessary, and formed a small party, numbering 
seven men, who were selected as being the most able to 
undertake the trip. Our starting point was from Raw- 
lings Springs, Wyoming ; leaving the overland stage route 
between Denver and Salt Lake, with the intention of 
following the main range of the Rocky Mountains north- 
ward to the British possessions. 

Could we but have drawn aside the curtain of the 
future and looked ahead a few months, I am inclined to 
think we would have respectfully declined to have started 
out in this direction. Probably it is better for us that 
we cannot see into the future of our lives ; for disappoint- 
ments would be sure to present themselves strongest in 



16 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

our minds, and thereby change the whole course of our 
arrangements. At least, this would apply to my case in 
this instance. 

Having secured some ponies and mules for riding and 
packing, we made a start towards the mountains, expect- 
ing to be gone about four months, and to return by way 
of the Missouri River to Omaha. 

For the first few days it seemed like a pleasure trip, 
but our course became more rough and rugged, and often 
accompanied by great danger and much suffering from 
want of water. In order to keep from encountering hos- 
tile Indians, we were obliged to keep away from the 
water-courses; but many times there was but little choice 
between the two. Thirst will drive most men to despera- 
tion, in spite of surrounding circumstances, and the 
judgment required in shaping a course through a hostile 
Indian country is often thrown to the winds, when, des- 
peration takes possession of the mind. Then a man finds 
fault with his comrades, and desperate encounters with 
each other will often result from the most trifling affairs, 
which, under ordinary circumstances, would pass unob- 
served. 

We often found ourselves in this position, maddened 
from thirst and in constant dread of the Indians. 

After being out about a month, we reached the Big 
Horn range of mountains. Then our progress became 
very slow indeed, and sometimes we did not make twenty- 
five miles in our direct course during the entire week. 
After considerable deliberation, we decided to direct our 
course east and take greater risks with the Indians. As 
we followed the water-courses east among the foothills, 
the Indian signs became more numerous day after day, 



A Fight Between Wild Animals. 17 

and we naturally became more nervous and easily 
frightened. 

In going into camp for the night, I was generally 
appointed to perform the duty of reconnoitering the 
country to make sure that no Indians were lurking in 
the neighborhood to give us a surprise during the night. 

One evening we struck camp quite early, and I took 
my gun to make my usual rounds before turning in. I 
had almost completed a circle, and climbed a steep hill; 
where I could look around for a long distance in all 
directions. On nearing the top, my movements were made 
with much care, for fear of attracting the attention of 
the nuTch-dreaded redskins. On gaining the summit, I 
had raised myself just high enough to look beyond the 
top, when my attention was directed to a small cotton- 
wood thicket near by, a slight noise evidently coming 
from that direction. 

As a natural result, my hair raised my hat a fcAV 
inches, and, to lower that hat, it was necessary for me to 
lie low. It was with the greatest anxiety that I listened 
as I never did before for some further sounds as evidence 
of danger, when I heard a noise resembling the panting 
of a dog after having run a long distance. I was very 
anxious to look in the direction of the sounds, but my 
courage seemed to have deserted me. After considerable 
silent debate on my part, I slowly raised my head once 
more above the top of the hill, and saw a small black 
bear, within eighty feet of my hiding-place. He was not 
aware of my presence, for he was furiously digging up 
the ground with his whole energy, and was evidently 
very much excited. His whole attention was directed to 
making a hole in the ground, and he was at work with 



18 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

his four paws, meanwhile continuing the panting noise 
that at first had attracted my attention. 

My first impulse was to shoot at him, but on second 
thought I remembered our orders to reserve our fire, for 
fear of arousing the Indians; only in cases of great 
emergency were we to shoot. On looking around, I found 
one of the men had gone to the creek for water, and had 
been watching my movements. I beckoned to him to 
come, at the same time motioning to him to keep very 
quiet, and in a few minutes he was with me. I had an 
idea that something was about to occur, judging from the 
actions of the bear and his highly excited state, and, as 
the following will prove, I was witness to one of the most 
terrific encounters between wild animals that I have ever 
seen or heard of. 

While gazing at Bruin in his endeavors to tear up 
the whole earth, our attention was directed to a sound 
in the bushes from which the bear had come but a short 
time before, and we silently looked in that direction, with 
bated breath, and in great expectancy. 

Suddenly we saw a large panther stealthily emerge 
from the thicket, with his head close to the ground, fol- 
lowing up the trail of the bear, and so intent was he on 
scenting the trail that not until he was within forty feet 
of the bear did he discover his enemy. 

When we looked at the bear again, we were consid- 
erably surprised to see the position that he had taken. 
He was lying on his back, in the trench he had just 
digged, with his claws in the air, evidently fully pre- 
pared for any attempt to dislodge him by the panther. 

It was a sight never to be forgotten — the bear in his 
trench, ready to receive the attack of the panther, who, 




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20 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

having now caught sight of the bear, crouched on the 
ground, swinging his tail from side to side, lil^e a huge 
tomcat whose rights are being encroached upon. 

In this position the panther remained for a short 
time, evidently studying the best mode of attack. 
Finally he rose, and, with a stealthy step, began to circle 
around the bear, uttering a low, catlike cry, and glaring 
at his foe in a ferocious manner. The bear meanwhile 
kept up a continual panting and growling, and watched 
every movement the, panther made in his rounds. We 
could see that the panther was preparing to make a 
spring; our feelings were Avorked up to the highest 
excitement, and it was with difficulty we could restrain 
ourselves and wait for the end, which we knew could 
not be far off. The panther now crouched close to the 
ground, and every nail seemed to be working its way 
into the sod, his tail lashing furiousl.y. 

With a fearful bound, the panther leaped into the air 
and ctvme down on the bear, who in return was ready 
to receive him, and when they came together, the bear, 
with a mighty effort, threw his enemy some ten feet from 
him, by the mere strength of his legs. 

"^The panther was evidently expecting such a reception, 
and saw his chance ; for, quick as a flash, he sprang for- 
ward again, and crawling between the bear's hind legs, 
slowly worked his way up the bear's body until he 
reached his throat. This seemed to be his point of 
attack, for he planted his teeth firmer and firmer into 
the bear's neck, the bear meanwhile trying with all his 
strength to tear the panther loose. Closer and closer the 
panther clung to his hold, his teeth sinking deeper and 
deeper into the bear's throat. 



A Buffalo Stampede. 21 

"We watched breathlessly for the coming result, and 
saAV the bear's struggles become weaker and weaker, and 
finally cease altogether, which we knew meant death. 
In the excitement of the moment, and forgetting our 
natural enemies, I s^nt a bullet into the panther, who 
at the crack of the rifle sprang high in the air and 
dropped dead by the side of his victim. 

We skinned the animals and attempted to take the 
skins with us, but the weather being so warm, and having 
a long distance to go, I was forced to leave them behind, 
much to my regret. 



A BUFFALO STAMPEDE. 

While traveling through the Rockies on our geological 
survey, I was an eye-witness to the most awful stampede 
and destruction of a large herd of bufi:'alo that it has ever 
been the lot of a white man to look upon. The action 
which caused the death of over two hundred of these 
noble animals was purely accidental on our part, but I 
have since learned that the Indians often employed the 
same means of killing them. Were it in our power to 
restore the number of animals we saw hurled over a 
precipice and dashed to pieces on the rocks below, it 
would be greater than all the buffalo now living in 
America. As I -have stated, it was the result of a most 
awful accident— for I must call it an accident— it being 
our intention to kill only one or two of the calves for 
our immediate use. 

This may seem incredible to the uninitiated, and it 
is a reasonable question to ask : How was it possible to 
kill so many buffaloes unless by shooting them ? It hap- 



22 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

pened in one of those incidents where success results in 
disappointment and regret, for such were the feelings 
of each one of our part3% and all looked upon it as the 
most dreadful occurrence of our trip. Had the Indians 
discovered the slaughtered animals, they would, probably, 
have regarded it as a malicious destruction of their 
lawful property, and made war upon the pale-faces 
who were instrumental in such a wholesale annihilation. 

On our journey through a rough part of the mountains, 
where there was but little water, the game became very 
scarce, and our fresh meat was reduced to a very small 
quantity. Upon nearing the foothills, our hopes were 
again raised by the appearance of a large herd of buffaloes 
but a short distance ahead of us. We immediately took 
steps towards securing one or two calves, and once more 
replenish our supply. It was suggested that I should 
take my gun and cross a stream, which made a cut 
through the side of a small hill, about one hundred and 
fifty feet high from the bed of a creek. On three sides 
of this hill there was a gentle slope to the top, when 
there was about an acre of ground, quite flat. 

It was arranged that I should approach the herd from 
one side of the hill, and one of my companions was to 
take up a position on the opposite side, so that when I 
fired they would run towards him, and he would be able 
to get a shot also. I started off feeling quite sure that 
we would soon have fresh buffalo meat. Crossing the 
stream, I crept along, under cover of some small knolls, 
until I got within range of a fine buffalo calf. At the 
crack of the rifle he fell to the ground, giving a number 
of bleats, which brought his mother to his side. She, on 
smelling blood, began to bellow in an alarming manner. 



A Buffalo Stampede. 23 

This drew the attention of the entire herd to the scene. 
The sight did not please me, for some of the old bulls 
began to paw the ground and fight among themselves, 
and I became alarmed lest I should not get my fatted 
calf after all. Thinking to frighten them away, I arose 
from my hiding-place, making as much noise as a Sioux 
Indian on the warpath ; but instead of frightening them 
away, they only stood gazing in the direction of the noise. 
One of the old leaders came down towards me, seemingly 
to make my acquaintance ; but I did not appreciate such 
friendship, so once more brought my gun to my shoulder 
and fired. The bullet seemed to satisfy his curiosity as 
to who or what I was, so, with a snort, he whirled around. 
This was a signal to the entire herd, for they started 
up the hill at full speed, with their tails high in the air. 
In a few minutes they turned in the direction of my 
friend, who, on seeing the whole herd coming toward 
him, seemed to lose his head. He commenced firing his 
gun and swinging his coat, and in this way he was suc- 
cessful in turning them again in my direction. On they 
came in an immense moving body, which seemed to me 
would trample to death every living thing which hap- 
pened to be in front of them. Frightened within an inch 
of my life, for I had not time enough to reach a place of 
safety, I had no alternative but to adopt the stratagem of 
my friend, and by waving my coat and shouting lustily I 
succeeded in turning the leaders of the herd, and they, 
on turning back, ran into the enraged animals behind 
them, for by this time they had become maddened by 
the smell of blood and the firing of our rifies. There they 
were, struggling and fighting in their attempts to pass 
each other. I now saw a chance to make my escape, and 



24 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

ran down the hill and across the creek, for fear they 
should again turn in my direction. ]\Iy fears were not 
realized, for the furious animals had now made a move 
in another direction, and were rushing up the hill towards 
the piece of level ground on the top. This was the road 
to destruction, but on they rushed, mounting the high 
hill, which overlooked the creek, and which terminated 
in a precipice. 

So long as they could keep running they did not 
seem to fear, or care whither they were going, but I 
thought they must surely turn on coming to the preci- 
pice. They did not realize what was before them, and 
what would be the result if their headlong course was 
pursued. 

By this time I was Avell up on the opposite bank of 
the creek, where I could view them as they rushed along. 
I almost held my breath as I gazed, and thought, "Why 
do they not stop? Will they attempt to leap over that 
fearful precipice?" My thoughts were only too closely 
followed by the animals themselves, for as they neared 
the edge, they showed no signs of making a halt. The 
end had now come. 

As the animals in front came to the brink, there was 
no chance for them to stop, for the moving mass behind 
kept crowding them over, until the air was full of the 
falling buffaloes, and as they came down on the jagged 
rocks about a hundred feet below, there was a continual 
thud and crackling as they rolled down to the creek. 
Such a terrible sight I cannot describe. When they 
struck the rocks, life seemed to be knocked out of them, 
for by the time they rolled into the creek not a move 
was made by any one of them ; and there they remained. 




A BUFFALO STAMPEDE. 



26 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

a huge mass of mangled bodies. There must have been 
fully two Inmdred of those noble animals, piled in a 
lifeless mass at the foot of the precipice, and as we gazed 
at the terrible scene of destruction, it almost made the 
tears come to the eyes of our entire party. 

Xo animal which has trod American soil has afforded 
so much relief to the pioneer as the buffalo. He with- 
stood the storms, and was seemingly ever ready to be 
slaughtered without much effort on the part of the 
hunter, and to furnish meat for tlie adventurer who left 
all traces of civilizatiou behind, and made his home Avhere 
domestic herds were never seen. 



LOCATING A COLONY. 

PART I— A PRAIRIE FIRE. 

In the year 1868, the employes of the Union Pacific 
Railway Company at Omaha organized themselves into 
a body for the purpose of locating a colony. Three men 
were chosen for their explorers ; one to go west into 
Nebraska, one into Eastern Dakota, and the other into 
Kansas. I was assigned to the latter place, and after 
some preliminary work, took my credentials and started 
on my journey, aecomi)anied only by a large horse, whose 
dutj' it was to carry me across the plains, a distance of 
over two hundred miles. 

I took with me a letter from the ]\Iayor of Omaha 
to the Governor of Nebraska, who, in turn, was to give 
me an order to the state militia, stationed at the head- 
waters of the Republican River, in Kansas, and from that 
point I was to have an escort to accompany me to the 
fi'ontier. The Indians at that time were reported as being 



Locating a Colony. 27 

on the warpath in the vicinity which I proposed visiting. 
This I learned from a scout who had made a number of 
trips to the frontier. He informed me, also, of a beautiful 
valley, which the Indians guarded with considerable jeal- 
ousy, and made war upon the pale-faces who dared to 
intrude upon their hunting-grounds. These tales, how- 
ever, did not alter my mind, for I had determined to 
fulfill my mission under any circumstances, my whole aim 
being to secure the best location. 

Notwithstanding my firm intentions, I naturally re- 
fleeted a good deal on what I might encounter during the 
next few weeks in that new country, and often concluded 
that I might be on a wild-goose chase, after all. Arriving 
at Lincoln, and getting my order to the militia, I left the 
following morning, feeling that my journey had begun 
in earnest. I rode along very slowly, as my road was 
simply a trail through the long prairie grass, having only 
been trodden by a few frontiersmen, probably bent on a 
similar mission. 

Along in the afternoon I noticed the smoke from a 
prairie fire in the distance, and which seemed to have 
been burning for some time, judging from the large tracts 
of burnt ground which lay to the east. The fire in the 
distance appeared quite insig-nificant to me at that time; 
nevertheless, the thought of those broad prairies, with 
such a tall growth of grass, being once on fire and fanned 
by a high wind, which often prevails in that country in 
the fall of the year, would occasionally flash through my 
mind. When night overtook me, I spread my blankets 
on the bank of a small creek, my wrist acting as a picket 
pin for my horse. The night moved slowly, and many 
times I raised mvself to look around and satisfv mvself 



28 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

that my horse was still with nie. As the small hours 
came, the skies began to lighten in the east and west from 
the prairie fires, which had been burning slowly in the 
afternoon, but were now being fanned by the wind that 
had sprung up during the night. Before morning I began 
to think that it might be possible that I should experience 
the much-dreaded prairie tires, which I had often heard 
descril)ed by scouts and ranchmen as being the dread of 
the plains. 

At early dawn I packed my blankets, saddled my 
horse and started on my journey again. I intended to 
make my next stopping point at a small creek, about 
forty miles distant, where I could obtain water. 

The fires meanwhile were coming nearer and growing- 
larger every minute, and it was then that the thought of 
being chased by the prairie fires appeared worse to my 
mind than being chased by wolves in Russia. I lost no 
time in pushing my willing horse towards my only point 
of safety, but as the sun rose so did the wind, which had 
fanned the flames from an insignificant blaze to a wild, 
roaring sheet of fire, spreading for many miles both to 
the right and left. 

By nine o'clock matters had assumed a serious aspect. 
The fire came nearer and nearer, and showered its smoke 
and heat down upon my poor, panting horse. It was 
evident we were not to gain our point of safety before 
the flames would overtake us. After glancing around a 
few times, I became satisfied that to escape the impending 
peril, it was necessary to start a fire of my own, and as 
soon as the grass was burnt, get my panting steed on the 
burnt ground, and wait for the main body of the flames 
to sweep past. 



Locating- a Colony. 29 

I pulled up my horse, dismounted, lit a fire, and waited 
in the dense cloud of smoke and heat until the grass 
would burn. I did not have long to wait, for the long 
grass quickly burst into fierce flames and rushed on with 
the wind. I mounted my horse, intending to ride through 
the back fire, but as the animal seemed to understand the 
danger we were in, he became very nervous and highly 
excited, and as we approached the heat, all my urging 
failed to make him leap through the flames on to burnt 
ground. I finally blindfolded him and spurred him on 
again, but it was of no avail, as he would rear and snort 
on approaching the flames and refuse to go further. 
Further delay being dangerous, I galloped around the 
burning grass I had lit, thinking I might come to some 
place where I could save my horse, for I knew he could 
hold out but a short time longer. Whatever was to be 
done, must be done quickly, for I could feel him sway 
under my weight and the intense heat. I again dis- 
mounted and started another fire, but with the same 
results as before. Remounting, I decided to ride him as 
long as he could hold out, and then I would be obliged 
to leave him and look towards my own safety. As I rode 
along, I discovered a buffalo trail, which enabled me to 
build a fire, without having the back fire to contend with, 
and in a few minutes we were on burnt ground and fol- 
lowing up the burning grass. By this time the main 
body of the fire, together with the fires I had lit, came 
rushing down upon us with such fierce heat that it seemed 
as if we must perish in the flames or be suffocated with 
the smoke. 

By breathing through a handful of earth, I could get 



30 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

some little relief. My poor horse reeled from side to side, 
like a drunlven man, and finally dropped down. 

However, the battle against the tlames at this point 
was short, thongh fierce, and the fiames swept past. My 
now^ exhansted animal was unable to go any further, so 
I started out on foot, taking' a small quantity of buffalo 
meat, with some crackers and cheese, as provisions. 

On going over the burnt ground, I could see numerous 
birds and animals, burnt to crisps, unable to escape the 
flames. 

After walking about an hour and a half, I cauie to a 
small cabin on the bank of a creek. A most sorrowful 
picture met my gaze. Everything but the cabin was still 
burning, and as I approached I could hear some one sob- 
bing. On going to the door, I saw there a poor woman, 
with two little children clinging to her dress and crying 
very pitifully. At my approach, they seemed very much 
frightened ; for I had become so blackened from the 
smoke that my appearance was more like a negro than 
a white man. I assured them that the worst was over, 
and asked for a bucket of water for my horse, which she 
gave me. I listened to the poor woman's story, in Avhieh 
she told me that her husband had gone to Salean with. 
a grist of Avheat, and that she was afraid he was burnt 
to death. She was very anxious that I should go in search 
of him, which I agreed to do, after I had carried the water 
to my horse. This latter undertaking was a much harder 
task than I at first imagined, for it was a long distance. 
At last I reached the weary animal, and as I approached 
he saw the bucket, and gave a longing whinny, and. 
thrusting his nose down to the bottom of it, drank with 
great eagerness. I then started liaek to the house, leading 



32 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

my horse, and arrived there after sundown, feeling as if 
I could not take one more step. I laid my blankets down, 
but, tired as I was, could not sleep for the cries of the 
poor woman I rose about three o'clock next morning 
and started out on foot in the direction she had given 
me, in search of her husband. I had gone about fifteen 
miles, when I came to a wagon, but no sign of a horse or 
man could I see in any direction. Leaving the road, I 
crossed the Repul^lican River and found the horses about 
two miles beyond where I had crossed. Leading the 
horses back to the wagon, I hitched them up— for they 
still had the harness on— and after driving in the direc- 
tion of the house for about five miles, I saw what appeared 
to be a man, walking over the burnt grass toward me. 
In due time he came up. He was the owner of the team. 
In a few words I told him what had happened. He seemed 
very much affected, and as the tears ran down his cheeks, 
I could not hide my own tears from him as he told me 
how he had toiled and of the privations he had under- 
gone to make a home for his wife and family, and now 
he was left with only what was in his wagon. 

On returning to the house, he and his wife thanked 
God for having spared their lives. That evening, as I 
listened to their tales of their hardships and experience 
on the frontier, I became rather discouraged with the 
colony enterprise, and had it not been for my resolutions 
in the beginning and my determination to see the place 
I was bound for, I would have gladly backed out and let 
the colony be located by some one else. 

In the morning I started out on foot, as my horse was 
completely broken down from his sufferings. I had about 
eight}^ miles to walk before I could reach the militia. On 



Locating a Colony. 33 

the third day I arrived at my destination, somewhat tired, 
but was soon rested. 

I presented my orders for an escort, and, with seven 
soldiers and two wagons and saddle-horses, we started 
for what was known as the Limestone and White Rock 
country. After about a week's journey, we arrived at 
the point for which I had started, and after surveying 
the country thoroughly and making the necessary notes, 
we turned our attention to killing buffalo, which were 
very numerous. One could look in all directions, as far 
as the eye could reach, and see hundreds of thousands 
of these noble animals of the plains. Today there are 
but few left. 

The pioneers used this buffalo meat instead of beef, 
and it was called jerked buffalo. To prepare this, the 
meat was cut into long strips, thoroughly salted, and 
hung over a slow, smoking fire until thoroughly cured, 
then packed into the wagon boxes. 

We found three ponies and two mules, which we 
thought had strayed from some frontiersman. Could our 
eyes have beheld what was then taking place a few miles 
away, undoubtedly our blood would have stood still at 
the sight; for while we were killing and drying buffalo 
meat, the Indians were massacreing a party of surveyors 
only six miles from our camp, and to whom the ponies 
and mules found by us had belonged. 

We were surprised to find, during our stay, that the 
man in charge of supplies had failed to take a sufficient 
supply of flour, and that therefore we would have to live 
on jerked buffalo meat for the remainder of our journey, 
which would take at least nine days. We succeeded very 



34 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

well in this respect, with the exception that our teeth 
became very painful from chewing the dried meat. 

On arriving at the settlement, we made the acquain- 
tance of a nice German lady, who, having heard of our 
condition, cooked some nice chickens with dumplings, 
mashed potatoes, raised biscuits and butter. I think this 
was the best meal I ever ate. 

On leaving the settlement, I pushed on toward home; 
and in due time arrived safely, without any further ad- 
ventures on the return trip. 

The news of the massacre of the surveying party by 
the Indians had created quite an excitement before my 
arrival, and many rumors had been circulated regarding 
my safety. 

The other explorers, who had started out at the same 
date as myself, had returned with glowing accounts of a 
beautiful valley, much nearer and accompanied with less 
danger than in the direction I had taken. 



LOCATING A COLONY. 

PART II— A NEBRASKA BLIZZARD. 

When I returned from the Limestone and White Rock 
country, it was too late to go and take possession of our 
proposed new homes, which we were day by day picturing 
in our minds as a thriving city, and hoping that in the 
near future it would be one of the many prosperous 
frontier settlements of which Nebraska* was boasting at 
that time. Fcav of us knew what it meant to go many 
miles away from a settlement and start, as many of us 
intended, with the savings of a few months, and expect 
to be able to cope with older and richer places. We 



Locating- a Colony. 35 

could not fail to see what.had been done by onr neighbors, 
who were still living examples of what eonrage and energy 
eonld do. 

We therefore looked forward with great impatience 
to the day on which we might start our teams in the direc- 
tion of the promised land. 

Our government about this time passed the Homestead 
Act, granting each American citizen one hundred and 
sixty acres of land as his own, if he would improve and 
live upon it. 

On the 10th day of April, 1869, we started for the 
land of our dreams. The first four days of our journey 
were uneventful, but on the fifth day, as we neared the 
chosen lands, the excitement ran high. Numbers of our 
party desired to rush ahead and secure the most desirable 
locations, and several severe reprimands were necessary 
to keep down the wild enthusiasm ; finally we rounded up 
the would-be deserters, and all agreed to camp for the 
night. In the morning it was agreed to lay out a town- 
site, and then to survey one hundred and sixty acres of 
land for each man, and all to draAv lots for choice. As 
night came on, the wind rose steadily, and by morning 
of the next day was blowing a perfect gale. It was very 
plain to me that we Avere soon to have the experience of 
encountering a blizzard, for which Nebraska has a national 
reputation, producing them in all their playful moods. 

I urged that immediate steps be taken to meet our 
formidable foe and prepare for the worst. The wagons 
were drawn up in the form of a circle, making the famous 
"wagon corral," into which we drove our animals. We 
had commenced to make .bread and bake beans, to last us 
through the blizzard, Avhei) the storm struck us with all 



36 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

its fnry. Some of our party had gone out for wood to 
the neighboring forest, which was but a short distance 
away, and it was proposed to take the wagons and stock 
to it for shelter, but the ascent to the timber was so steep 
that this was rendered impossible. Before the fuel-gath- 
erers had returned with a supply, the snow began to fall 
in large flakes, which, melting, wet everything it touched. 
Our efforts to cook were unsuccessful, and all hopes for 
a warm nu^al were abandoned. In less than an hour, our 
stock was huddled up, shivering with the cold. The five 
preceding days had been as warm as June weather. Our 
whole attention was now turned toward our stock, the 
snow falling more heavily every moment and the cold 
growing more intense. 

We tried rubbing the animals, to lessen their suffer- 
ings, but long before night we became convinced that 
other methods must be adopted, or our stock would 
perish. One by one, we went to our wagons, drew out 
our blankets and covered our aninuils. One of the party 
tried other means, by exercising his animals outside the 
corral, but it was with the utinost difficulty he succeeded 
in finding his way back. By this time, both the earth 
and sea seemed to be flying through the air, and a man 
would not have been able to recognize his wagon ten feet 
away. One may as well try to face an Iowa or Wisconsin 
cyclone as to face a Nebraska or Dakota blizzard, and the 
one we were now trying to brave out had become full- 
grown, and demanded the earth, which request was 
granted, so far as we were concerned. 

As night came on. every crack in our wagons was 
filled with snow, and when we crawled under cover we 
realized the need of the blankets, which we had shared 



Locating a Colony. 37 

with our stock. The wind blew a gale. It seemed to 
pick lip each wagon, shake it and throw it down— then 
go to the next and do likewise. At daybreak, the man 
on watch cried out, "All alive, except Mnrphy's rooster.'' 
He had perished during the night. The second day was 
spent in trying to keep warm, but with very unsatis- 
factory results. The stock began to show the effects of 
cold and hunger. Many suggestions were forthcoming, 
but at length we decided to wrap the animals' limbs with 
whatever we could f]nd, for we all realized the importance 
of saving the stock. "We went to work with a will, as 
we saw that the poor creatures could not survive much 
longer, unless afforded relief in some way or other. 

We used old pantaloons, overalls, and even our spare 
underclothing, to wrap the limbs of the shivering brutes, 
and they seemed to appreciate our efforts on their behalf. 
Horses and mules, dressed in pantaloons, presented a 
ludicrous sight. When we crept into our wagons the 
second night, I, for one, had lost considerable enthusiasm, 
and would have sold my interest in the colony for a square 
meal and a good bed. The night was colder, and, if 
possible, the wind blew harder than before. 

I almost regretted my generosity to my four-footed 
fellow-suff'erers. On the morning of the third day, the 
snow seemed to have spent itself, but the wind continued 
to blow the drifting snow in our faces, and it kept us 
chilled to the very center of our bodies. Not until four 
o'clock in the afternoon were we enabled to cook some 
warm food. During the three days of the storm, we had 
eaten nothing but crackers, cheese and sardines. 

The next morning the sun rose in all its glory, bright 
and shining upon the snow, which was piled mountains 



38 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

high, and which caused our entire party to suffer from 
snow-blindness. We had to blacl^en our faces to keep 
from becoming blind entirely. 

The snow Avas so deep that we could not move our 
teams for five days, and then very slowly. Durnig this 
time we had laid out' our town, while traveling through 
the snow-drifts, and located our homesteads, and by the 
time the snow had melted, we had laid the foundations 
of our new homes. 

While all this was going on, I could not help asking 
myself if it was necessary for me to fight fire, face bliz- 
zards, equalize myself with dumb animals, share my bed- 
ding and underclothing with horses and mules; and after 
due deliberation, with plenty of experience and very little 
profit, I said to myself, "Travel on, old man— you can't 
do worse," and so I am still going. 

Twelve years later, while on a trip to the gold fields 
in Dakota, I visited the colonj^ and found a fine town, 
with a flourisliing community. It is now called Crighton, 
Nebraska. 

My old pioneer friends gave me a very hearty welcome, 
and had many tales of interest to tell. On leaving them 
once more, they presented me with a history of their 
interesting little city. 



SOUR BREAD OR NO BREAD. 

While on a trip before mentioned, we had an experi- 
ence whereby we succeeded in finding out the true char- 
acter of a mule. 

Few people live long enough to learn all the char- 
acteristics of a mule. When one thinks he has solved all 



Sour Bread or No Bread. 39 

the peculiarities pertaining' to a mule, it is then that this 
long'-eared, big-headed and small-footed animal can show 
him that he is just in his infancy of understanding. 

In my opinion, one can easier solve Jay Gould's tricks 
on the New York stock market and become a millionaire, 
than learn all the tricks of a real, first-class, frontier 
pack-mule. 

Unlike most other animals, he studies his business and 
profits by experience. A good mule can tell you when 
the redskins are in the neighborhood ; he can tell you 
where there is water, and he can smell danger in any 
form. In fact, he acts as a barometer to the pioneer, 
and if we had consulted that ungainly head oftener, it 
would have saved us lots of trouble and annoyance. When 
you go back beyond his praises and try to drive him 
against his judgment, then comes the "cussedness" of 
his race. Nature says, the nuile is either perfect, or is 
such a disgrace to the animal kingdom that they never 
propagate. 

We cannot, then, say what mules would become, if 
they were as prolific as other animals. 

At the particular time of which I now write, our flour 
was packed on the back of a large black mule, which I 
have spoken of before in one of the incidents of that trip. 
We all considered him the safest animal to carry such a 
precious burden ; for the pioneer guards his flour, and 
looks upon it as he does his rifle, for without either it 
would become impossible to make headway in a new 
country, far from any settlement, and not knowing what 
is before him. 

We felt that in case of an attack by the Indians our 
nmle would be the last to surrender his burden. 



40 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

In passing through a desert part of the country, we 
suffered to a great extent from want of water, having 
been without this precious fluid of nature for over thirty 
hours. To be in an alkali country, where there is very 
little vegetation, in the hottest part of the year, and 
Avithout water, is a painful situation, and the reader can 
but vaguely imagine our sufferings. We had separated, 
and were a considerable distance apart in our search for 
some small stream or creek, but, from the indications of 
the country, there seemed but little hope that we would 
be successful. Our sufferings had become indescribable, 
and if it had been in the power of any one of us to give 
away the universe for a few drops of water, such a sacri- 
fice would have been made only too readily. I have often 
thought of our sufferings, and tried to explain the misery 
and utter helplessness which one feels when in want of 
water. We had reached a point and were in such a 
condition that we had given up in despair all hopes of 
being able to survive, unless we should find water within 
a few hours. I had not taken notice that "Old Slasher," 
as we called the black mule, began to quicken his step 
and then broke into a fast trot, and in a few minutes had 
passed out of sight. The mule had been following an old 
buffalo trail, and had traveled some distance ahead, 
while I was climbing a small hill, in order to get a view 
of the surrounding country and note any indications of a 
stream. At this hurried movement on the part of the 
nmle I became very much annoyed. I watched him disap- 
pear, and there was no alternative for me but to follow 
him. 

After running about half a mile, and no sign of the 
mule, I suddenly came upon a most beautiful stream of 



Sour Bread or No Bread. 41 

clear spring water, about eiglit feet deep and fifteen feet 
wide, and there, in the middle of the stream, was that 
fool of a mule, drinking as if he intended to drink the 
stream dry. I have heard the story of the old horse who 
swam the river to get a drink, and here was a mule who 
took a lesson from the old horse. I did not make any 
effort to get him out until after I had quenched my thirst. 
On coming to the water, I immediately gave the signal 
that water was found, by firing two shots in quick suc- 
cession, then threw myself down at the water's edge and 
drank and drank again. It seemed as though I could not 
drink enough, and as I lay there drinking, one of my 
companions came up, who seemed to be suffering more 
than any of us. His lips were swollen in a frightful 
manner, his eyes dilated, and his tongue protruding from 
his mouth. On seeing the water, he seemed to lose what 
little reason he had left, and commenced to cry like a 
child. In a few minutes the other members of the party 
came up, and were soon drinking the draught of life. 
After satisfying our thirst, our attention was attracted 
to the mule, who was swimming about in the stream. On 
his back was our supply of flour. The poor animal, in his 
eagerness to get at the water, had slipped down the bank, 
and was now unable to get out again. He iiad drank so 
much water that his body was swollen, and the straps 
holding the pack were so tight that we had some difficulty 
in getting them loose. We found that the flour was 
almost entirely wet through ; there being only a very little 
in the middle of each sack Avhich was dry. This was a 
very serious matter to us, but, fortunately, we had about 
a sack, which we had been using, on one of the other 
animals. There were a good many suggestions forth- 



42 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

coming as to Avhat was best to be done with the wet flour. 
As we took the dough out of the sacks, each man looked 
as though he had lost his best friend. We kneaded the 
wet flour, and rolled it very thin, and by laymg it on flat 
stones it soon became perfectly dry. AVhen we wanted 
to make bread, this dry dough was Avet up again and 
baked. 

This was a very poor substitute for bread, and it 
became sour and would not rise in baking, but our tem- 
pers rose whenever we tried to swallow it. If that poor 
mule could have understood what was said in trying to 
eat this sour mixture, I have no doubt he would have 
concluded to go and live with the Sioux Indians rather 
than take chances where there was so much growling over 
some wet dough. 

After this incident, the mule was looked upon as a 
bad animal, and he had not a friend in the crowd. We 
seemed to forget that he had been the means of bringing 
us to the water, which had saved our lives. Each man 
felt as if he owed him a whipping, but was always waiting 
for some reasonable excuse to do so, until one morning 
the opportunity presented itself to inflict the chastise- 
ment. On going to the bacon sack, I discovered that Mr. 
IMule had been helping himself. Not satisfied with the 
earth to graze upon, he must needs make an attack on 
our short supply of bacon to appease his enormous 
appetite. 

On making the fact known to my comrades, I expected 
that poor Slasher's time had come at Ir.st. But this mule 
was no fool, and seeined to know there was danger in 
the air; for when we got ready to pack up, he for the first 
time on the ti'ip, did not take his place as usual, but 



Buffalo's Lament. 43 

kept at a respectful distance, evidently waiting until we 
would calm down before allowing himself to be caught. 
If any one of us could have laid hands on him at that 
time, there would have been a settlement of old scores. 
With all his faults and tricks, he was ever ready, and 
never failed to carry his pack; and indeed he did not seem 
to know his strength. 



BUFFALO'S LAMENT. 

Oh, you hunters, proud of goi-e ! 

Theii' homes you've come to, as of yore. 
Not content to slay for food, . 

But to fell them, all that stood. 

Not that they had ever wronged you, 
For they knew but storms to tight ; 

None to feed them, none to guard them. 
All to charge them in their plight. 

You call it sport, you heartless beings; 

They should look for succor there. 
But alas, 'twas you who sleAv them 

For the robes that they did wear. 

AVould to God that he had placed them 
In plains too wide for you to cross; 

Had but left them to the savage, 
And not the legions of the cross. 

Once their homes, their lands so free. 
Once the play-ground of their millions; 

Now is left not one to see, 

Of these herds and their destiny. 

This is but an act of Nature. 

As in her onward course she flieS, 
While the strong arm of the Nation 

Wipes from earth these noble ties. 



44 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

THE DOWNFALL OF BIG STEVE. 

During the early part of the sixties, while connected 
with the N. P. R. R., I became acquainted with a man by 
the name of Steven Stokes. He was a good mechanic 
and while sober was a good companion. We became 
quite warm friends and I called on him at his home a 
number of times. He had a noble little wife and two 
bright children, of which he should have been proud. 
However, he would at times take too much liquor, and 
while under its influence he became a perfect demon, 
and would quarrel with his best friend. 

One day he came to me after one of his sprees and 
said he was going out on the road and wanted me to 
join hin;, which I declined to do. Some months later I 
was in Laramie, Wyoming, where I was called on by 
the railroad men to join in a movement to avenge the life 
of one of the railroad employees, who had been most 
brutally murdered for a few paltry dollars which he had 
earned by long hours of hard work along the line of the 
road. 

Outlawry had come to such a state that it was not 
safe for one to leave his car after night, and almost 
every night one or two men were knocked down and 
robbed while going to or coming from their quarters. 
The railroad men had formed a vigilance committee to 
secure safety to the railroad men and property. 

I was told that Big Steve was at the head of the gang 
that was waylaying whoever they suspected of having 
any money. Upon asking who this Big Steve was, to my 
great surprise I was told that he was a carbuilder from 
Omaha. I told the foreman I could not take any part in 
the affair, as I had worked with him in the Omaha shops, 



The Downfall of Big Steve. 45 

and thought that some other method might be used than 
what I felt was in store for the men who had so brutally 
assailed the railroad men. Had it not been for a number 
of good friends of mine who explained my position, the 
boys might have handled me rather roughly, but I was 
excused and told to keep out of sight, which I was glad 
to do. 

During the following two hours the cold drops of 
perspiration ran over my face, for I knew too well the 
nature of their mission and also the kind of man they 
had to deal with, for Stokes was not much less than a 
giant, standing six feet five and a half inches in his 
stocking feet, and anything but a coward. 

As this band of staunch wage earners and justice 
dealers started forth, I listened with bated breath to hear 
the sound of the battle which I thought must take place 
before a capture could be made. They went not as a 
column of militia, but as a band of brave men, determined 
to execute justice for one of their comrades, who without 
the least chance for defense, had been laid low, with no 
law to avenge the inhuman act, save this band now enroute 
to act as judge, jurors and executioners. 

This man Stokes, not content to feed his thirst in the 
numerous saloons that were openly dealing out the rattle- 
snake poison to their fellowmen, had started one of his 
own in a tent, with drygoods boxes as a counter. On 
entering the den, which was filled with loafers and robbers 
of his own class, the avengers stepped forward and with 
drawn revolvers, commanded him to throw up his hands. 
With a bound he sprang forward and seized the first man 
within reach, but not without half a dozen shots being 
fired at him, some of which went wild of their mark, but 



My German Friend, 47 

others pierced the now raving desperado. The fight was 
on, but close encounter prevented guns being used, and 
only by multiplied forces were they able to bind him 
beyond resistance. 

During this time two more of his gang had been taken 
in and made ready for the death march to a log cabin 
where the roof at the gable end projected some eight 
feet beyond the main building, and the huge logs which 
supported the roof were some ten feet above the ground. 
Stokes, bleeding from his many wounds, was dragged 
with his tAvo pals to this improvised scaffold, a ladder 
placed against the logs and a rope put over it. One by 
one the doomed robbers were asked what they had to say. 
With words too vile to repeat, they still struggled until 
they were swung into eternity by being pulled up by a 
hundred strong men. They were left hanging until the 
following day, when they were photographed and their 
pictures stuck up in many public places as a warning to 
others. Stokes' wife was given money by the railroad 
men and sent back to her parents in Iowa. 

Some months later the vigilantes had a fight with a 
gang of desperadoes at Bear River, where a number of 
men were shot and three were hung. This ended the 
career of the band of outlaws known as the "Laramie 
Road Agents." 

MY GERMAN FRIEND. 

The following lines will relate how young men may 
be drawn together through some incident that remains 
the key to friendship through life ; and this is one which, 
if properly described, would make interesting reading 
and at the same time not draw on the imagination. 



48 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

During the sixties, while connected with the Union 
Pacific Railroad, I had charge of the iron work for the 
car department at Omaha, Nebraska. The company was 
building some box and flat cars and it was my duty to 
be around among the different squads of car builders to 
see that they did not want for material. While thus 
employed I had noticed a young German, who was one 
in a gang composed of Irishmen, and whenever an oppor- 
tunity presented itself they would throw iron or lumber 
on him and did not hesitate to strike him, this being 
done with a view of driving him from the gang, so that 
he could be replaced by one of their own nationality. 

My sympathy soon made me keep a close watch over 
their maneuvers, and it was not long before I saw a 
gang bringing in some car sills, and in the lead was the 
German who could not understand English and was there- 
fore at the mercy of the unprincipled men. At the word 
"throw ".every man sprang from under the sill, leaving 
the German to receive the shock of one end of the falling 
sill; and to add insult to injury they laughed at the 
misery they had caused as a climax to the abuse. While 
the German stood rubbing his shoulder the foreman of 
the gang said, "Be gob, if he gets a few more like that 
hale quit the job." It is sufficient to say that I got 
"warm under the collar," and demanded an explanation 
for such treatment and was told that it was none of my 
business. At this the young German came forward and 
tried to explain in his broken language that they had 
misused him. I threatened to report them to the super- 
intendent of the department. As a justification of their 
conduct the lie was given and the foreman got a slap 
in the mouth before the word had gone three feet. I must 



My German Friend. 49 

say the German came to the front like a captain and in 
short there was some lively exhibitions of pugilistic science 
in which we found ourselves outnumbered, but we made 
a good showing and what we lacked there we made up 
in reporting the affair to the superintendent and having 
the consolation of seeing two of the ring leaders leave 
the shop. 

During that afternoon I was told that they intended 
settling old scores on leaving the shops, so I invited my 
new friend to go home with me, which invitation he 
accepted. I must say that I did not feel as though I had 
struck a fortune in mj^ new comrade, but I had enlisted 
in the cause and was going to see it through. 

I went home with my prize and introduced him to my 
landlady. Being told that she had no spare rooms, I had 
him occupy my room with me, and here was the begin- 
ning of a true friendship. He gave me his brief history 
as best he could, for he could not speak English and I 
could not speak German ; but there was a feeling of friend- 
ship, and we were soon able to carry on a general conver- 
sation, my new friend starting out with the name of Peter 
Siems and learning English much faster than I did Ger- 
man. Our evenings were spent very pleasantly by my 
getting a great deal of knowledge of Germany and my 
friend posting himself in the ways of the Yankee nation. 

Here comes another chapter, of which the foregoing 
seems to have been only the text, that started us on the 
road to our future pursuits. In our conversation I learned 
that my friend was inclined to leave the shops at an early 
date and start in some business that would by close appli- 
cation build up a fortune. My faith or confidence in this 
line was weak and I feared the venture, but as I longed 



50 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

to see the West and still wished to stay by the railroad, 
I made an application to leave the shop and take a posi- 
tion out on the line, and my request was granted. My 
friend had no hesitation about leaving the company and 
went to Cheyenne to build a house to either rent or sell. 
Here we compared notes and my friend wanted me to 
leave the road and join him in contracting, but as before 
I lacked courage and feared a failure, so still stuck to 
my position on the road. We parted in Cheyenne, when 
my business called me out on the line of the railroad, and 
my friend was lost to me for some ten years, during which 
time I made many inquiries for him, without success. 
Meanwhile, I gained courage and had started to follow 
my German friend's advice by doing something for myself. 

About this time the discovery of gold in the Black 
Hills was made, and having had a little experience in a 
mining camp while on a geological survey, I joined a 
company in Chicago which was called the Butts-Hammond 
IMining Company, built a five-stamp quartz mill and took 
it to the gold fields of Dakota to pound out of the rocks 
of ages the fabulous fortune that was reported to be wait- 
ing for our stamp mill. 

We reached the promised land, but the gold had been 
so thinly distributed in the mountains of rocks that our 
little stamp mill made me feel as though the job was too 
slow to get rich quickly, so I went in search of a more 
lucrative business. And here is where I found my old 
friend Siems in a most peculiar manner. I was talking to 
some gentlemen in a lawyer's office, when one of the 
party said he had been on the Union Pacific, and I made 
inquiry if he had worked on that road. On being 
told that he had, I inquired at what point, and was told 



The Milkman's Revenge. 51 

at the Omaha shops and along the road. I then asked 
him if he knew a man along the road by the name of 
Peter Sieras. At this he looked at me very sharply and 
said he did and that he also knew a man by the name of 
I. B. Hammond, at the same time he came forward, and I 
saw once more, to my'great joy, my old friend Peter Siems. 
The hand-shaking' was sincere and many a tale was told 
of the past ten years, but the greatest change was in my 
friend, who had developed from a beardless, green German 
boy to a refined-looking gentleman, without the least 
accent of the German language. He had married an 
American girl and was one of the proprietors of the 
Northwestern Transportation Company, then running a 
stage and freighting business between Bismarck and the 
Black Hills. Since then he has been doing railroad con- 
tracting, having done a large amount of work on the 
Canadian Pacific and built most of the Great Northern 
Railroad. I must say I am proud of my fight for the 
German boy. 

THE MILKMAN'S REVENGE. 

While I was stationed at Rawlings Springs, Wyoming 
Territory, during the construction of the Union Pacific 
Railroad, the Sioux Indians made many raids on the 
ranchers and railroad men along the line of the road. 
It was not an unconnnon thing to hear of section men 
being run in, while trains were often wrecked and burned 
by the hostile reds. 

One of my old roommates, a brakeman on the east 
end, had an experience through which but few men could 
have lived. He was on a west bound freight running out 
of Plumb Creek, Nebraska. The Indians had piled ties 



52 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

on the track, which threw the engine from the rails and 
piled the cars in a shapeless mass. This accomplished, 
the Indians, with fiendish yells, made sure of their work 
with the tomahawk and torch. Having found liquor in 
the freight, they were soon yelping and dancing around 
the blazing wreck like so many devils in Hell. 

My friend, Robt. Calhoun, half conscious, bleeding and 
stunned, crawled from the ruin, only to be pounced upon, 
scalped and left for dead. It was not long, however, 
before the redskins felt the full power of the fire-Avater 
and they lay sprawling around the wrecked cars in 
drunken stupor, or calling to each other with maudlin 
yells. 

When my friend had revived sufficiently he crawled 
painfully along the ditch, which kept him froui the view 
of the drunken bucks, carrying his scalp in his hand. 
After a severe struggle and with much pain he managed 



'^•^^ 1^- 



THE MILKMAN'S 
REVENGE. 



The Milkman's Revenge. 53 

to reach Plniiib Creek and gave the news of the terrible 
wreck and massacre of the tram men. 

Maddened by such tales, men stood ready to take 
revenge on any Indian in sight. 

The redskins had been seen almost daily along the 
line of the road aboiit ]\Iedicine Bow, Fort Steele and 
Rawlings Springs. The fever ran high, and the general 
orders were to keep a sharp lookout, the company fur- 
nishing their trainmen and section hands with rifles and 
ammunition with which to defend themselves. 

This was the condition of affairs when I was talking 
one Sunday morning, to an old friend of mine, Robert 
Shafer, foreman of the round-house at Rawlins. I asked 
him what he thought of our chances of being attacked. 
"Well," said he, "I have lived on the frontier for over 
thirty years, and I've never had to take to the bush yet." 

"The chances are that we won't have an opportunity, 
if it conies to a showdown, ' ' I said. 

"All right," said he, "I've a rusty old charge in my 
gun that has been loaded for the cusses for more than a 
year. I'd like to pull it off, and see what it would do 
when the smoke cleared away." 

As we sat, sheltered from the wind, on the sunny side 
of the building, I glanced up, and noticing four or five 
cows grazing on the bunch grass, remarked, "Those cows 
would make good food for our red friends." 

Shafer looked up and at the same instant we both 
sprang to our feet. 

"They're after them now," said Shafer, for sure 
enough, there came five redskins mounted on ponies and 
running at full speed. They surrounded the cows and 
started them over a low range of hills. 



54 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

Knowing they would cross the track on the other side 
of the hill about two miles above us, we armed ourselves, 
took a switch engine, and in less than ten minutes nearly 
a dozen armed railroad men were going up the track at 
a forty-mile gait. 

During this time a general firing had been kept up 
from the hotel, and some of the bullets kicked up the 
dust very close to the Indians. . The cows were too poor 
to make much headway, so they were left behind. 

The milkman, hearing the fusillade from his ranch, 
started up the track, rifle in hand, but we were far in 
advance of him. We went some distance beyond where 
the trail crossed the track, and I called to my friend that 
we were going too far, but he said he knew where they 
would cross, so I laid on the coal pile in the tender, wait- 
ing for them to put in an appearance. I hadn't long to 
wait, for they were crossing the road about three-fourths 
of a mile back of us. 

The milkman by this time had come within range, and 
as the 'report of his rifle reached us, we saw one of the 
bucks tumble from his pony. Quickly two of his compan- 
ions whirled around, and coming up on either side of the 
fallen man, grasped his arms, turned and spurred their 
bronchos on, carrying him between them. 

Again the milkman loaded and fired and another 
Indian reeled, but still clung to his pony. Before he could 
load for a third shot they had succeeded in putting them- 
selves beyond the range of his weapon. 

One of the railroad men and I had left the engine and 
made for a small hill, which was not a great distance 
from where they must pass. When we reached the hill 
Ave were but two hundred yards from them, but they had 



Custer's Massacre. 55 

seen us first and were laying on the sides of their horses 
and spurring them for all the speed in them to avoid our 
shot, having left the first Indian shot, who was delaying 
them. We concluded they had enough for that day, so 
allowed them to go. 

On our return to* the engine my friend Shafer was 
not choice in his reprimand to us for leaving the engine 
and going off where we could have been easily surprised 
by a band of warriors. 

We then ran back to the milkman and joining him, 
followed the trail of the reds for about a mile, where we 
found a big buck cold and stiff. The milkman took his 
knife and scalped him in true Indian style, after which 
we put the body on the running board of the engine and 
brought it to the station, where it lay on the platform 
when the passenger train came in. 

The killing of the two Indians put a stop to the depre- 
dations for a long time thereafter. 



CUSTER'S MASSACRE. 

(Written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on the massacre of 
General Custer In the Big Horn Mountains by Sitting Bull and the 
band of Sioux Indians.) 

In the desolate land and lone, 

Where the Big Horn and Yellowstone, 

Roar down their mountain path, 
By their fires the Sioux chiefs 
Mtittered their woes and griefs, 

And the menace of their wrath. 

In the meadows spreading wide. 
By woodland and riverside. 

The Indian village stood. 
All was silent as a dream, 
Save the rushing of the stream, 

And the bluejay in the wood. 



Custer's Massacre. 57 

''Revenge," cried Rain-in-tlie-faee, 
"Revenge upon all the race 

Of the white chief with yellow hair." 
And the mountains dai'k and high 
From their crags re-echoed the cry 

Of their anger and despair. 

In their war paint and their beads, 
Like a bison among the reeds, 

In ambush the Sitting Bull 
Lay with three thousand braves, 
Crouched in the clefts and caves, . 

Savage, unmerciful. 

Into that fatal snare, 

The white chief with yellow hair 

And his three hundred men 
Dashed headlong, sword in hand ; 
But of that gallant band 

Not one returned again. 

The sudden darkness of death, 
Overwhelmed them like the breath 

And smoke of a furnace fire; 
By the river banks and between 
The rocks of the ravine, 

They lay in their bloody attire. 

But the foemen fled in the night, 
And Rain-in-the-face in his flight. 

Uplifted high in air. 
As a ghastly trophy bore 
That brave heart that beat no more, 

The white chief with yellow hair. 

Whose was the right or the wrong, 
Sing it, oh funeral song, 

"With a voice that is full of tears; 
And say that our broken faith 
Wrought all that ruin and scathe, 

In a year of a hundred years. 



58 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

A RUNAWAY TRAIN. 

During the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad, 
I. like many other young men, had a longing to go to the 
front and see the road being built through the Rocky 
IMountains, little thinking what I was liable to encounter. 
Had I been willing to accept advice from others who had 
gone before, I would have avoided an endless amount of 
suffering. However, the old saying is, "Each man nuist 
do his own dying," and so he must have his omti experi- 
ence. This adventure confirms the latter expression quite 
fully, and I might say, was an order for experience that 
was filled to the lettei'. 

To carry my desire into effect, I called on the super- 
intendent of construction and secured a position on the 
water supply, with headquarters at Cheyenne, Wyoming. 
This afforded me excellent opportunities to see the new 
country and also have time to hunt, as there was plenty 
of large game along the line of the road. 

While stationed at Cheyenne we got orders to go to 
►Sherman Station and erect a pumping plant. After 
completing this work we were to go to Red Butte, which 
was sixteen miles west. We had seven cai's in our outfit, 
Avhich consisted of a cook car and bunk cars, together 
with general supplies. After laying at Sherman some 
ten days trying to get some obliging conductor to take 
us down the mountain to Red Butte, I succeeded in 
getting a friend of mine to break orders by taking us 
down at the tail of his train. All trains were restricted 
to ten cars, and as Ave had seven, added to the regular 
train, it very nuich exceeded the limit of the orders. 
However, by a little persuasion I succeeded in getting 



60 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

my friend to take ns down, agreeing to help him brake 
the train. 

We accordingly took our places along the train to 
obey the signal of the engineer. At this point I blamed 
my friend for not fully explaining the danger in taking 
a long train down a mountain over a new track, especially 
Avith a lot of clod-hoppers instead of professional brake- 
men. How^ever, ignorance was bliss, and we pulled out 
from that dreary, cold station, where it had been raining 
and snowing almost continuously for days. 

The conductor ordered one of his brakemen to remain 
and close the switch after the train had pulled out on 
the main line, and as we left the siding and struck the 
main track where the grade started down the mountain 
we found we were going too fast to allow the brakeman 
who had been sent to close the switch to catch the train, 
so we were left with but one brakeman and the conductor 
and three or four green men who were of little or no use. 
As we left the switch the engineer called for brakes, and 
as each of our men set up his brake and started for the 
next car, he only succeeded in reaching it by crawling 
on his hands and knees, which ended his usefulness from 
that time on. 

By this time the train was whirling through the air 
like a cannon ball and the engineer called loud and long 
for "brakes, brakes, brakes." The conductor with his 
lone brakeman did noble work, but they were outclassed 
and on sped the runaway train, over bridges, around 
short curves, through deep cuts, roaring like thunder 
from the clouds. The engineer in his endeavor to check 
the speed, would reverse his engine and surge back, and 



A Runaway Train. 61 

every minute it seemed as if the cars must fly the track. 
I tried to act as brakeman; set up the brakes on one 
car and went to the next and found the pawl gone 
that held the brake set. I pulled the brake with all 
my strength. The . engineer kept calling for ' ' down 
brakes," and as he surged back again, I saw a stake that 
held the ties on a flat car break and a half dozen ties 
roll down between the cars. I drew in a long breath, 
expecting to see the train pile up and end further sus- 
pense, but we stuck to the iron all right. We flew down 
the rough track that had not been laid thirty days, and 
as we passed a tie siding where an engine was to await 
our coming, the conductor and engineer of the waiting 
train climbed the steep bank to keep from danger, as they 
expected to see us leave the track and smash into them. 
We finally reached Red Butte, where the grade was re- 
versed and we came to a standstill, after running the 
sixteen miles in fifteen minutes from the time of leaving 
the switch. 

During this run our cook car, which was occupied by 
a large darkey, was seemingly being kicked to pieces, 
and on opening the door of the car, in which he had been 
unintenionally locked, he came out with a determined 
look, and said to me, "Next time I rides down dat moun- 
tain I'se goin' to walk," and in fact I felt he showed 
good judgment, if he had to repeat that experience. 

That night following our runaway my hand began 
swelling from the severe strain which I had exerted in 
holding the brake, and it finally terminated in the loss 
of the use of one of my fingers, having strained the cords 
to such an extent that they were permanently stiffened. 



62 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

MINE SALTING. 

Since my first conneetion with mines I liave had three 
experiences with salted mines, and in each case the 
method of deception was different. Tlie first was a very 
clever piece of work, and had for its subject myself and 
and old friend of mine, a man of long' experience and 
one who prided himself as being "burglar proof," in the 
language of safe-men. But nevertheless, they opened our 
safeguard and took from us some eleven hundred dollars 
in cash and left us a few burglar tools and some experi- 
ence, which probably is still good, for that particular 
kind of salting. It was unique in all its details; first, for 
the confidence with which they played their game, and 
second, in being able to keep it up day after day for 
three weeks. And were it not for a general suspicion 
that hovers around every mining deal, they most likely 
would have pocketed about eleven thousand dollars more ; 
so we will credit up suspicion with eleven thousand and 
charge neglect with eleven hundred. A brief explana- 
tion of the way the fraud was practiced is as follows : 

I was running a mine and mill and employing a large 
number of men in different capacities around the works. 
Among them was a miner known to have done consid- 
erable prospecting, who, like most of his class, would 
not work longer than to get a grub-stake, and then go 
off and try his luck again in search of a prospect that 
he could sell for a much larger sum than he could earn 
by day's work. 

One morning this man came to the office and called 
for his time, saying he was going prospecting. After 
some five or six weeks he came to me and said he had a 
very fine prospect and wanted me to go and look at it. 



Mine Salting. 63 

This I agreed to do, and after getting from him consid- 
erable explanation of the general character of his pros- 
pect, I set the day to accompany him, bnt not withont 
first getting his price and what he guaranteed this ore 
to run, which if it proved to be as stated, would make 
a good proposition. I had a neighbor who had been in 
the milling business for many years, and who was inter- 
ested with me in some small deals, and I invited him to 
accompany me to see the property, which was some four 
miles up a mountain called Baldy. 

We finally reached the prospect, which was located 
on the side of a steep hill. They had run a tunnel 35 
feet into the hill, which did not look like anything I 
had seen before, but my friend said he had once worked 
a mine which resembled it and paid well. However, we 
set to Avork to prospect the workings, which seemed to 
carry good pay ore. Our samples were taken as a gen- 
eral test to see if it contained good averages. In short, 
Ave closed the deal and gave the prospector a cash pay- 
ment and agreed to pay him the balance of $12,000 
(which was to be the price) at the expiration of sixty 
days, which was the longest bond we could get. We 
were then to put some miners to work to develop it, to 
see if we were to get value received for the money we 
Avere to pay at the expiration of that time. 

I accordingly took one of our best men and outfitted 
him Avith ponies for riding and packing, and set him to 
running the tunnel still further into the mountain. I 
also gave him instructions to the efifect that on leaving 
the mine in the evening, he Avas to bring a sample of the 
ore from the face of the tunnel, and if I Avas not at home, 
to leave them at mv cabin in the rotation of each day's 



64 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

work. During this time I was spending much of my 
time away from home, and on my return I took the 
samples and commenced testing them in rotation. Num- 
ber one was blank, number two — blank, number three — 
blank, and so on, winding up with my looking blank and 
saying blank— blank— blank! On the foreman returning 
home that evening I inquired as to the cause of such a 
showing, and he said that he had taken the samples as 
I directed. The next morning I accompanied him to the 
prospect. I took a sample from the face of the tunnel 
and pounded it up and panned it, which showed a good 
prospect. I called the foreman, and showing it to him 
asked him how he accounted for my finding such a pros- 
pect while none of his samples had carried a color. He 
said he had taken the samples as I directed and had not 
selected them. I felt like contradicting him, but con- 
cluded to run the results to a finish. "While there I took 
a number more samples and did not fail to get good 
results. After giving him orders to continue bringing 
samples, I went home, feeling much relieved in regard 
to the mine, but there were the acts of my foreman, 
which still were not explained, and my suspicion had 
changed from the mine to the man. On my return the 
next week I started in to test the next lot of samples, 
and to my chagrin the results were as before. On the 
arrival of the foreman I informed him of the results, and 
while I did not venture to express my thoughts, I looked 
at him with contempt, merely saying I would go with 
him the next morning to the mine. As he turned to 
leave I saw he was not pleased with the way I was crit- 
icising him. He halted and turned, as if to say some- 
thing, but finally moved on and I saw no more of him 



Mine Salting. 65 

until the next morning when he joined me for the ride 
up the mountain. During- that four-mile ride there was 
not one dozen words spoken, I believing that he was 
trying to deceive me for the purpose of getting the mine 
for himself or some friend of his. On entering the tunnel 
I proceeded to take a sample, having tested the one he 
had brought down the night before as being taken from 
the face, where I was now taking mine. After com- 
pleting the sample I went and pounded it up and panned 
it down, and much to my delight produced a long string 
of gold in the pan, which showed that the mine was 
improving by the development. I called the foreman 
and asked him to look at that, showing the sample. 
During this time I was getting rather "warm under the 
collar, ' ' as the miners say, and I w^as not alone in getting 
hot, for he looked at it and said, with blank — blank — 
between each word, that he would not work for a man 
who believed him lying, to which I replied I did not 
want a man to work for me that I could not believe, and 
asked him to explain the conditions. He said he had no 
explanation to make, but that he had done as he had 
been told and I must get some one to take his place. 
"Very well, that I will," said I, and turned to the light 
to examine my prospect, of which I was very proud. In 
doing so I saw some bright smooth pieces of gold, which 
I knew did not exist in quartz. I looked again and put 
it under a magnifying glass, which revealed the fact that 
fully one-third of the gold was placer gold. "W'here did 
this come from? I had dug it myself, allowing no man 
to handle my sample, and still the fact remained— it 
M^as there. I then began to get down off my high horse 
and look for fraud in other directions. During this time 



66 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

the foreman was packing his traps to leave camp, but I 
was ready to make things right by finding the fraud, so 
I called to him, saying I thought we were both off and 
he had better come and help me find wherein the fault 
lay. In fact, we compared notes and commenced the 
search, but no trace could we find of any marks in the 
face of the tunnel which would indicate that any one 
had been disturbing it, but the fact remained; we could 
get gold for three or four inches in the solid face, and 
beyond that the rock was barren. 

I told the boys to bring their tools home that night 
and I would see what the next twenty-four hours would 
bring forth. I went home and saw my partner, who 
examined the gold and said, "We've' got it in the neck 
this time." "Well," said I, "there may be some one 
besides me that will get it." "Well," said he, "we had 
better pocket our loss and say nothing." But I was too 
hot to let it pass, and as night came on I took my horse 
and started for the camp. It was a long, lonely trail 
through the forest, and more than once did I have to climb 
doAvn off my horse to find my hat, which was repeatedly 
knocked off by the brush. Finally I reached a place where 
I felt I had better take the trail on foot, so I climbed down 
and tied my horse to a sapling and started on foot toward 
the tunnel. I had not gone more than a hundred feet 
when I stepped on a stick, which broke, making a loud 
noise, and to my disgust there came the barking of a 
dog. This was the sentinel which was left to guard the 
approach of strangers. I stopped and stood still, waiting 
results, and in less time than it takes to tell, there came 
out of the mouth of the tunnel two men, whom the dog 
had warned. Their forms were just visible in the moon- 



68 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

light, and they needed no other warning, for they broke 
and ran up the creek. I called for them to halt and at 
the same time sent a couple of shots flying over their 
heads, which seemed to add speed to their flight. 

I pushed on up the trail and entered the tunnel, 
where I found a piece of paper spread on the floor, with 
a small ratchet drill and some fine gold mixed with sand ; 
also a goose quill and a piece of wire, which they had 
used to do the salting. This had been accomplished by 
their drilling the face of the tunnel full of holes with 
the one-eighth inch drill, then filling the goose quill with 
fine sand and gold, placing the small end of the goose 
quill in the drill hole, and taking the wire and ramming 
the hole full of sand and fine gold. This when done and 
a handful of sand or dirt thrown against the face made 
it impossible to detect the fraud, no matter how closely 
examined. 

It is sufficient to say that the salters never came 
around to have us take up the bond: in fact, they left 
their blankets and hit the trail out of that locality for 
good. 



A PREACHING EXPERT. 

A majority of the people of a mining community are 
"mine owners." In fact, it will be hard to find a person 
in camp who has not his mining "interest," and who 
contributes to the support of the prospectors who do 
"assessments" and some development work. But in a 
"low grade ore" country development becomes so great 
an operation that the "capitalist" is the hope of most 
of the inhabitants. Each coach is watched: each de- 



A Preaching Expert. 69 

partiire for the East is discussed privately and in print, 
and the citizens hope that the departing resident will 
bring back capital to develop the property. All agree 
that whatever the chance of success, every dollar brought 
in goes to develop the country and make prosperous 
times; for the money stays in the camp. Woe to the 
"blackmailer" who suggests that the money could be 
better spent elsewhere than on the chosen property. 

The "watchers" of the Black Hills were rewarded 
one day by learning that a real capitalist was visiting 
the Hills in company with his oa\ti expert, the noted 
John Taylor of London. His guide was the good ex- 
ploiter of Black Hills property— Bob Floorman. 

Greenwood was the camp toward which his attention 
had been turned and many remembered the fine "pan- 
prospects" they had seen from the property, exhibited 
by a grocer on Sherman street. Still, there was a general 
feeling in town that the expert, Taylor, would find that 
property undesirable. The mistake became evident when 
it was learned that he had reported that the property was 
"better than the Homestake," and 3000 by 600 feet of 
$10.00 ore could be shown. The doubters still shook 
their heads, but the sale was made, and provision was 
at once made for building a mill superior to anything in 
the world. 

The principal capitalist, Matthew Laflin, of Chicago, 
was supposed to be worth seven millions, so pity need 
not be wasted on him. He was over seventy and didn't 
thank anybody for pity or advice. He was advised by 
John Taylor, the greatest mining expert in the world 
and a religious man, who could talk to a Sunday school, 



70 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

make a prayer or preach a sermon to please tlie most 
critical. "Build me the mill; I will pay the bill," said he. 

The mill was built for him to the Queen's taste by 
I. B. and W. B. Hammond, of Chicago and Deadwood. 
Nothiug- was wanting in this construction. The 120 
stamps were of the latest Black Hills type, Blake heavi- 
est crusher and Hammond ore feeders. The forest was 
searched for the heaviest timbers. Bull trains arrived 
daily from Fort Pierce bringing the machinery. From 
a wilderness with two log cabins a mining camp was 
constructed having 1200 inhabitants and of sufficient 
importance to wrest the county offices from the Demo- 
crats for the first time. Hard work was pleasure. The 
site was a paradise for a miner or a family — a low valley 
with a pretty, clear stream running through it and the 
hills on either side covered with tall pines — healthy and 
pleasant. The mine was well above the mill and a narrow 
gauge road and a locomotive were provided to haul the 
ore. Families of the miners built cabins and prepared 
to spend the winter and live there permanently. 

Still doubt existed in some minds about the quality 
of the ore and the final success of the camp. But the 
great John Taylor of London was looking after that end 
of it— he and his sons and his inspector— all of England. 
He was not so busy but that he could look after the 
spiritual welfare of the community, and every Sunday 
he held services. Week days he and his good wife 
handed around tracts and presented prayer books to the 
miners. 

The fall arrived and six inches of snow was on the 
ground, when the contractors declared the mill ready to 
start. Some little delay occurred in getting the ore chute 



A Preaching- Expert. 71 

and bins ready at the mine. Mr. John Taylor was general 
manager and settled all contracts. A little dispute arose 
between the contractors and Taylor over the reading of 
the contract— a matter of $1000 or so. It was settled 
one day. John Taylor was notified to pay up or keep 
out of the mill. He attempted to walk past the Chicago 
foreman of construction, but changed his mind and paid 
the last payment. 

The contractors were very doubtful of his ability as 
a mining expert, or his honesty as a man, but as their 
overtures in that direction had been turned down by Mr. 
Laflin, they considered it their duty to complete the con- 
tract and be silent. 

After the settlement of the contract, amicable rela- 
tions being re-established, the said Taylor proposed a 
supper to celebrate. The miners were all to be invited, 
also some guests from Deadwood. In suggesting this to the 
junior contractor, Taylor said some liquid refreshment 
should be provided, and suggested the contractors could 
furnish the liquid, while he would furnish the solid food. 
Relying on the religious character Taylor had established, 
the contractor suggested beer and wine. Taylor replied : 
"A bottle of beer for each miner, and a bottle of wine 
for each of the others." The beer and the wine were 
provided. The supper was a great success, and it is 
related that Taylor, standing amidst flying corks, and 
with his own bottle of wine well sampled, delivered him- 
self of a temperance lecture in which he promised to 
discharge any miner found going into a saloon. Some 
say the supper was opened by him with prayer. 

All was ready for the trial run and, under the direc- 
tion of a first-rate amalgamator, the stamps began crush- 



72 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

ing ore. Five thousand tons were crushed and still the 
verdigris on the plates would not down. There must 
be something in the batteries. A clean-up was made and 
not five dollars of amalgam was found. Then came the 
crash. The end of John Taylor came when he met old 
man Laflin. All authority was taken from him and I. B, 
Hammond was put in charge to try to make the best of 
the wreck. 

Arriving in Greenwood Hammond found the miners 
and disappointed workmen in a riotous state of mind. 
This was not to be wondered at, as many had, at con- 
siderable cost, brought their families there to settle and 
were now turned out of work in the winter. There was 
talk of hanging ]\Ir. Taylor, but a vigorous speech by 
Mr. Hammond to the men calmed their minds and the 
law was allowed to take its course. Taylor was promptly 
sued and kept from leaving the territory. 

The case came to trial with strong counsel on both 
sides. The intricacies of the deal, made before the devel- 
opments above related, came out in the court proceedings. 

Taylor had arranged with the owner of the mine to 
sell for $17,000, but had arranged with Laflin to repre- 
sent him as principal in the purchase of the property and 
get it at the lowest possible price. He represented to 
Laflin that $100,000 was the lowest price for which it 
could be bought. They agreed that a representative of 
Laflin should go and see the property — a man trusted 
and respected by him and then in his employ. This man 
we will call Mr. A. ]\Ir. A. visited the property; was a 
tenderfoot; was deceived and salted. He made an agree- 
ment with Taylor to receive a commission of $10,000 and 



A Preaching Expert. 73 

reported favorably. Taylor divided with the Black Hills 
promoter $78,000. 

In court the lawyers for Taylor tried to show that 
the property adjoining had been examined by their 
expert in company with "W. B. Hammond and pronounced 
good for $2.00 to $4.00 per ton. W. B. Hammond swore 
that at that examination he and said expert had dared 
the o-\vner to show them one piece of ore that would 
show fifty cents per ton, and had pronounced said adjoin- 
ing property valueless. 

But a principle of law and "horse swapping," which, 
translated, means, "buyer beware," protected the skirts 
of Taylor. If Lafiin had not sent Mr. A. to examine the 
property he could have recovered judgment against 
Taylor. As Lafiin had sent A. as an expert, to examine 
the property, Taylor was cleared. Taylor then sued 
Laflin for damages, but got nothing, and Lafiin dis- 
charged Mr. A. without a blessing of the right kind, 
or an interest in his will. 

^Ir. Taylor, in more bad business, was brought to 
justice in Mexico soon after by a mob. He was not John 
Taylor at all, but a sharper of the smoothest kind, and 
had no knowledge of mines whatever. 

Mr. Hammond prospected the property, and finding 
no values ; sold out all machinery and closed up matters 
for Mr. Lafiin, who did not wince at the loss of over 
$300,000, blamed no one but Mr. A. and himself, and 
thanked Mr. Hammond, besides making him a valuable 
present. 

So ended the Greenwood affair. The beautiful site 
for a mine, though somewhat disfigured, still remains. 



74 



Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 



MY FIRST TRIP TO ALASKA. 




In the year 1886, while 
spending- some time in 
Boston, Mass., I was told, 
in the course of conver- 
sation with some mining- 
men, of a wonderful mine 
in Alaska. I had previ- 
ously met an engineer 
from that countrj^, who 
had given me an account 
of the remarkable Tread- 
well mine, which had 
greatly excited my curi- 
osity. 

Learning- that some Bos- 
ton people had property 
adjoining the Treadwell, 
and wanted to contract for 
a large stamp mill, I called 
on the promoter of the 
enterprise to learn more 
about that property. When 
he learned that I was a 
mill builder, with many 
years' experience in the erection of mining machinery, I 
was most cordially received. He Avas anxious to make a 
contract for a 120-stamp mill to be placed on the prop- 
erty adjoining this Treadwell mine. 

I soon found that the promoter had no funds with 
which to pay for a mill of those dimensions, so made a 



My First Trip to Alaska. 75 

contract with him to the effect that if his ore Avould 
run a cei'tain amount to the ton, I would build him a 
mill and take my pay out of the output of the mine 
and mill. In order to avoid any "wild goose chasing" 
(being aware that those birds went north in the spring), 
and as 1 had not lost any, I required an advance for 
expense money and five hundred dollars for time to be 
spent in going and making an examination of the mine. 
In the event of its carrying the value agreed upon, I 
would refund his money and build him a mill, he paying- 
all costs and a certain per cent to me for carrjdng the 
deal. 

The contracts were made and the time set to start 
on our journey of some five thousand miles to see a mine 
that would eclipse the Homestake. 

Having an appointment to meet some mining men 
and examine a mine on the San Juan JMountains, some 
twenty miles from Silverton, Colorado, I started in 
advance of the rest of the party, who were to take some 
of the stock which the promoter proposed selling as soon 
as the mill was an assured thing. 

After finishing my business on the San Juan ]\Ioun- 
tains, I prepai*ed to follow the rest of the party. I then 
learned that, it being Sunday, I could not get a train 
until the following day. This would occasion my losing 
the boat at Seattle and a wait of thirty days, there being- 
only one boat each month. 

This was a terrible shock. I sat down in dumb despair, 
biting my fingernails and going over in my mind the 
song of my early school days, "I wish I were a birdie, 
etc." A longing to fly is, to be sure, a laudable desire, 
it being possessed by many good and righteous people. 



76 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

It brought me, however, no nearer my destination and 
I east about for more practical ideas on the subject of 
transportation. 

Finally I decided to wire the superintendent of the 
road for an engine to connect me with the Union Pacific 
at Pueblo, about one hundred and twenty miles distant. 
I had many explanations to make by wire, but touched 
the key-note Avhen I told the superintendent my name 
and where I hailed from. When he ordered an engine 
to run me to Pueblo I could have fallen on his neck 
and blessed him had he been within falling distance. 
I expected, of course, to pay at least a dollar a mile for 
this special service, but on arriving in Pueblo I found 
in the superintendent an old friend whom I had not seen 
for many years, and who asked me how I had enjoyed 
my ride. 

After we had lunched together and swapped many 
old time yarns I expresed my gratitude for the way in 
which he had assisted me and inquired the amount of 
my bill. ''Well," said he, "when you have finished 
building your Alaska mill, come up here and we'll show 
you more good mines than you'll find in all Alaska, and 
I'll include this bill in the first shipment you make over 
this road." 

After taking my seat in the Pullman for Portland, 
Oregon, I fell to thinking of the strange event which 
had brought two old friends together after so many years. 
My reflections were interrupted by a face strangely 
familiar to me and I arose and followed the person into 
the smoker, ^vhen to my surprise I recognized in him 
another old friend, A. L. Dickerman, a mining expert 



My First Trip to Alaska, 77 

from Deadwood, S. D. The Professor sprang to his feet 
and asked me where I was going. 

"To Alaska," said I. 

"To Alaska, to Alaska," said he, "Why. so am I, 
so am I ! " And on .comparing notes we found we were 
both going to examine the same property. The Pro- 
fessor was going for some Boston and Providence men, 
who anticipated buying a large amount of the stock of 
the mine. 

We enjoyed the next three days, passing through the 
desert and over the Blue Mountains, in the company of 
a party of excursionists who were bound on a sight-seeing 
trip to Alaska. 

On reaching the Sound, we found many people who 
were bound for Alaska, and the old Aucon, a side-wheel 
steamer, lying at the dock ready to carry her load of 
human freight to the frozen North. 

We soon were under way and stopped only at Tacoma, 
Port Townsend, Victoria and Nanaimo, M^here the vessel 
coaled and where we spent the Fourth of July picnicing 
on a small island with some British subjects from the 
town. 

After slowly Aviiiding our way through the islands 
and stopping again at Fort Wrangel, the first American 
port in Alaska, we reached the supposed Golden Shore. 

During the voyage the promoter, Thomas Nowell, had 
told me from day to day how he would enrich me if I 
reported favorably on his mine. He also told me what 
great miners his brothers were, they having discovered 
this mine. He also had his proposed buyers to keep in 
line, likewise the Professor. He very much disliked 
to see the Professor and myself on such friendly terms. 



78. Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

When we reached Douglas Island we all went to look 
at the mountain of gold. After winding our way up 
through the brush, devil's club and skunk cabbage, we 
arrived at the alleged mine. There was not even a ten- 
foot hole on the pretended mine, but from the story of 
this big brother and the promoter it was the most won- 
derful on record. 

To satisfy him, we got about twenty Indians and 
made cross-cuts through the debris to the solid rock 
and took samples for some two hundred feet, which when 
assayed did not run fifty cents to the ton. 

This ended the big deal. The promoter, however, 
refused to die a natural death and rushed about the 
country looking for more prospects that would prospect 
and finally located another lot of worthless granite beds. 
He then cried for an eighty-stamp mill and found suckers 
to follow him with their money to the tune of a hundred 
and fifty thousand dollars, but I did not build the mill. 

His schemes have been worked in Alaska for fifteen 
years, and a million and a half, probably, of Boston's 
money has gone to Alaska after wild geese or wild cats. 
But it seems that now his race is run or the suckers are 
all dead. 



A STAMPEDE FOR GOLD. 

In December, 1889, while in Alaska, I had a little 
experience that still remains fresh in my mind. It was 
in one of those stampedes which often carry miners 
far beyond what a business man would call good 
judgment. But the miner's excuse is that some times 
one sees, or thinks he sees, a fortune in sight by taking 



A Stampede for Gold. 79 

a "flyer" at a rich prospect that is often worth a for- 
tune before a hundred dollars has been expended on it. 
Nature generally leaves her richest stores in concealed 
nooks, hidden by blankets of debris, apparently with a 
view of keeping it from the sight of the gold hunter, who 
spends years in searching for and opening the ware- 
house where Mother Earth has stored this treasure. 
As a rule they are only found by accident. When such 
a discovery is made and the news of the find leaks out, 
there comes what is known as a "stampede," each man 
rushing wildly, anxious to get to the new discovery first 
in order to locate himself and his friends on the best 
claim nearest to the new find. 

This was the preliminary to what started me on a 
stampede in 1889, ending in disappointment. 

I was at Juneau, Alaska. Early one morning a sailor- 
prospector came into camp and exhibited some fine 
specimens of quartz, saying he had found a most won- 
derful ledge of gold ore and wanted to have some one 
help him work it, for he was like most prospectors, with 
seldom more than a month's provisions to live on. 
According to his description it was situated about two 
hundred miles up the coast. 

After talking with him some time, I made a bargain, 
in which I was to charter a small steamboat and with 
tools and provisions go up the coast some two hundred 
miles in the dead of winter and locate this rich claim, 
give the prospector a certain cash payment and a future 
interest in the property, and also pay him a salary for 
his valuable services. His description made me feel that 
I would never see another day of poverty. After the 
necessary papers had been drawn up and signed, I fplt 



80 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

as though my fortune had been well launched and would 
not have taken any small sum for my chances, for I was 
not to pay anything except the chartering of the steamer 
until after I had examined the mine. 

The arrangements completed, I set to work to get a 
boat that was sufficiently seaworthy to make this trip 
up the Alaskan coast at such a time of the year. Few 
realize the perils of navigation at that season along the 
bleak Alaskan coast. I have seen even the largest ocean 
steamers compelled to turn back and seek shelter behind 
the island mountains from the fierce tempests that rage 
in those frigid island channels. After some delay I suc- 
ceeded in getting a small steamer named the "Yukon." 
This boat had been in service many years and was poor, 
but the best we could find. We then got a good supply 
of coal and provisions for the trip, and all necessary tools 
to start developing our new gold mine. 

During this time the news of the discovery, which I 
was constantly cautioning my new partner to keep a 
secret, began to leak out, and by the time we were ready 
to sail all the inhabitants of the towns of Juneau and 
Douglas were watching us and getting every available 
craft that was half seaworthy to follow us. But I did 
not intend to be out-generaled, so, when we were all in 
readiness, waited until night came on before starting 
east around Douglas Island. 

Knowing that we had the fastest boat obtainable for 
the expedition, I felt confident that we could reach the 
promised land without being overhauled or molested by 
pui-suers. As we rounded the north end of Douglas 
Island I saw, much to my surprise, that two small sloops 
had gone up over the bar at high tide and were waiting 



A Stampede for Gold. 81 

to see our course. But we felt perfectly sure of being 
successful in our undertaking. 

Soon after leaving our would-be pursuers and strik- 
ing around toward Point Retreat, we encountered a very 
heavy northeast wind, which made our little craft labor 
very heavily, and in the course of half an hour she was 
rolling and plunging in the surf, without sufficient power 
to drive her to any one point. The night grew extremely 
dark, our compass was very deficient in its action, and 
we merely went where the wind blcAV us. 

About ten o'clock at night our coal bunkers broke, 
and the coal went rolling down on the engine, stopping 
its further action. All on board, with one or two excep- 
tions, were extremely seasick and hung to the rigging, 
waiting for the climax, which seemed inevitable 
at any moment. However, I for one, did not propose 
to give up my chance of landing our craft and finding 
the treasure which we had started in search of. In a 
few minutes we discovered that the boat was leaking 
badly, and endeavored to find the source from which the 
water came. After a considerable search, w^e found that 
the sleeve around the rudder post had worked loose and 
was lost. This was a serious condition, for it was very 
difficult to get anything that would fasten around the 
rudder to stop the leakage. After quite a while, with 
considerable effort, we secured a couple of pieces of scant- 
ling and gouged them out so that the halves would 
encircle the rudder and could be lashed together. We 
thus made a sleeve around the rudder, wedging it between 
the deck and the planking of the boat, which stopped 
the most of the leak. 

We kept up a continual blowing of our whistles, the 



82 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

echo of which gave us the approximate distance from 
the shores. In this condition we rolled in the surf until 
break of day. During that time we sacked most of our 
coal, repaired our bunkers, and finally got our engine 
in running order again, but not until we were within 
a couple of hundred yards of a reef, over which 
the seas were breaking at a fearful rate. But for the 
timely starting of our engines, we would probably all 
have been dashed to pieces and lost. During the night 
Ave lost our ship's yaAvl, which left us perfectly stranded, 
without a boat to reach the shore, even if we got out of 
the main channel; but we finally succeeded in rounding 
the reef and by noon had reached Kilisnoo. There I 
fo7ind an old friend, Cark Spoon, general manager of the 
herring fishery. He gave us a hearty welcome, a good din- 
ner, and furnished us with another launch, and by two 
o'clock we continued our journey. After putting in an- 
other eighteen hours of slow navigation, our boat came to 
a sudden stop. I went to the pilot house to ascertain the 
cause of the delay. There I met the ironclad skipper, Cap- 
tain Healey, of more recent Yukon fame, but who at that 
time was navigating the waters of Alaska with that noted 
sheet iron water-cofftn, the ancient steamer Yukon, a boat 
which always threatened to conduct her passengers to the 
bottom. He informed me in unmistakable words that his 
contract was at an cue ; that he had traveled the two 
hundred miles, whidi completed our agreement, and if 
we wanted to go any further a new deal would have to 
be made. 'There was still five miles to travel before 
reaching our destination. I inquired of him what he 
Avanted. He very bluntly told me that he would not go 
the remaining five miles for less than one hundred dol- 



A Stampede for Gold. 83 

lars, which was twenty-five dollars more than the pre- 
ceding tAvo hundred miles had cost us. I saw that there 
Avas no use in arguing the point with our headstrong 
commander and reluctantly gave up another hundred 
dollars for more experience, which we seemed to be out 
for in full force. After settling with our captain, the 
old steamer resumed her snail's pace and finally fetched 
Up at the entrance of Peril Straits, where she dropped 
anchor, and all were in readiness to climb the adjacent 
mountains in search of our dreamed of- bonanza. 

During the trip I had been questioning my new 
partner about the distance of his discovery from the 
beach and many other things connected' with it, and I 
imagined that I saw a number of deviations from his 
original statements. However, there was sufficient enthus- 
iasm left to run it down to a finish. I left the boat, still 
having hopes in the ultimate result. We wandered up 
through a dense growth of underbrush and devil-club. 
The latter shrub stands always ready to be grasped by 
the tired mountain climber when about to lose his footing, 
but like the hornet, it will not stand squeezing Avithout 
making its stinger felt. Our climb continued to an eleva- 
tion of some two thousand feet, with a falling rain and 
snow that made the journey anything but pleasant. After 
reaching the supposed height of the ledge, we wandered 
back and forth without any particular point in view, and 
finally I asked him if he could not locate some point 
from which we could start and succeed in finding the 
ledge. He admitted that he had not gone up the way 
Ave had, but had come doAA-n that Avay, and that he had 
lost his bearings. I told him that it seemed as if a 
person aa^Iio had come dovA'n over a trail certainly should 



84 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

be able to find the point of location on a return trip. 
After another weary hour of wandering around through 
the slush, I became somewhat discouraged and told him 
that if he thought best we would go back and make the 
journey the way he formerly had. To this I received a 
pert reply, to the effect that he guessed he knew where 
it was. "If you do," said I, "you had better find it, 
and if you have led me off on this wild goose chase, you 
had better say your prayers." 

After a brief exchange of words I became thoroughly 
convinced that I had been duped, and to demonstrate 
my feelings, started towards him with a clinched fist. At 
this he broke down the mountain at steps ranging any- 
where from five to twenty feet, and I followed in hot 
pursuit, but he had the start of me and kept it. 

I finally reached the landing opposite our boat with- 
out any prospector being in sight. I called for the boat, 
which was innnediately brought. The skipper informed 
me that my new partner had reached the beach about 
fifteen minutes before ; had not waited for the yawl, but 
had plunged into the water and swam to the steamer; 
that they had pulled him aboard and he was now crouched 
behind the coal bunkers drying out. 

It is useless for me to try to tell what my feelings 
were after summing up the result of this trip. However, 
I ordered the steamer to return to Juneau. On our 
return trip we undertook to make a short cut, avoiding 
the main channel of Linn Canal, but night came on and 
we were compelled to run undei'' a slow bell, for fear of 
encountering islands or reefs, the location of which we 
knew nothing about. We kept two lookouts in case of 



A Stampede for Gold. 85 

meeting with any obstacles. After a run of an hour or 
two in this way, one of the men on board shouted, ' ' Back 
up ! Rocks ahead ! ' ' We came to a standstill and found 
that our boat had been running parallel with a reef 
some distance and was within ten feet of a big rock. We 
lowered our skiff, took a lantern and went in search of a 
harbor, but not until daylight dawned did we get any 
relief, only drifted with the tide, which fortunately was 
not against us. During the day, however, we reached 
Kilisnoo, where we returned our borrowed boat and 
started for home. 

During the afternoon another heavy storm arose and 
we sought shelter in a small cove, where we lay for three 
days, waiting for the storm to subside so that we could 
resume our journey, at the end of which time we finally 
rounded Point Retreat and succeeded in getting home 
after having a trip of nine days. 

During this time our "prospector" kept below decks 
and within his hole, but not without the fingers of scorn 
from our entire party being pointed towards him, and 
it would not have taken much persuasion to have given 
him a bath that, would have lasted him until the day of 
Judgment. 

On arriving at Douglas Island, we found that the two 
sloops which had started to follow us had not yet returned 
and a search party had been sent for them. They finally 
returned after an absence of fourteen days, no richer, 
other than in experience, tlian when they started. They 
had been storm-bound a large portion of the time. 

The motive of our erstwhile partner in leading us on 
this fruitless expedition was to obtain cheap transporta- 



86 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

tion to Sitka, where he hoped to be able to jump us, but 
he failed as signally in his undertaking as we did in 
finding our visioned vault of golden treasure. 



THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 

Social Hall, Steamship Elder, Sept. 19, 1889. No. 1. 



Published by the Editors. Edited by the Publishers. On board 
Steamship Geo. W. Elder — return trip from Alaska. Object, amuse- 
ment combined with charity. Terms: 25 cents to end of voyage; single 
copies, 10 cents. 



Chaj-ity covers a multitude of sins. 



SALUTATORY. 

There is no excuse for the existence of this elegant 
and progressive journal. Even if there were excuses to 
be made, there would be no one to offer them, for it has 
the distinction of being published without an editor, a 
force, a proof-reader, a compositor or a press. It is a 
proof positive of the truth of evolution. It sprang from 
an intellectual proto-plasm. In skipping the sponge 
period, however, it differs from man. Though the 
remarks contained in this journal go thundering down 
the corridors of time, they have never been sponged from 
papers of less dignified extraction and have the rare 
merit of being original. There are new things under the 
Midnight Sun and to these the attention of the intrepid 
voyagers on the staunch steamer Elder is disrespectfully 
called. The subscription fund will be devoted to a pur- 
pose which all our readers will be glad of an opportunity 
of contributing to. 



The Midnight Sun. 87 

THE SILENT CITY. 

When the heart is weary with longing, 

And the soul is burdened with care, 
I lay down each duty and burden 

And flee to my castle in air. 

This castle of mine is most dazzling, 

It towers high up in the air; 
It stands in the vale of enchantment, 

Filled with pictui'es most wondrous and rare. 

Here I revel in visions ecstatic. 

No thought of life's sorrows or pain 
E'er passes this threshold of fancy, 

This beautiful Castle in Spain. 

Here a face dearer far than all others. 

Comes nearer and nearer to me. 
And a voice like the song of the Siren 

Makes blissful the moments that flee. 

For nought would I barter my title. 

My right to this Castle in Air, 
The key to mj'^ dreamland and fancy, 

My refuge from gloom and despair. 

And when I awake from my fiction 

And realize that this is a snare, 
Return me, return me, to slumbers, 

Mv Dreamland and Castle in Air. 



POLICE COURT. 

His Honor Deacon Wilson on the Bench ! 

Complaint having been lodged by Governor Snyder 
of South Carolina that his cap had been stolen from a 
table outside of Mrs. Guernsey's door, while engaged in 
playing a game of "draw poker" with ^Irs. Beach, Mrs. 
Hubbard and Mrs. Gunner, warrants were issued for the 
arrest of Mrs. Guernsey, Miss Guernsey, Miss Eagan, and 



88 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

Captain Hunter, all of whom were brought before the 
court. Mrs. and Miss Guernsey and Miss Eagan proved 
an alibi, were discharged, but suspicion was so strongly 
directed toward Captain Hunter, that by an order of the 
court his stateroom was searched and the cap discovered. 
Captain Hunter, in his affection for his only daughter, 
"Flossie" Hunter, had purloined Governor Snyder's cap, 
deeming it none too good for a head rest for the lovely 
brunette. The court was evidently much touched by the 
paternal affection of Captain Hunter, and with voice 
trembling with emotion and his eyes swimming in tears, 
sentenced the horror stricken culprit to play "Old Black 
Joe" on his violin at the next social reunion of the 
Happy Family, while the entire court joined in the chorus. 
The sentence will be carried into effect this evening. 



Special Correspondence of the Sun. 

A third attempt by some of the more persevering pas- 
sengers of the Elder to reach the beautiful lake at Loring 
resulted in a success. At twilight a boat was lowered, 
with the esteemed third officer in command. A half hour's 
pull brought the party to the shores of the outlet. The 
lake was clouded with mist, the mosses and sweeping 
ferns were wet, the roar of the cascade most wonderful. 
Was it strange that the wanderers fancied themselves 
surrounded by the spirits of departed warriors, who had 
trod these shores through unrecorded ages? Suddenly 
they Avere startled by the sharp report of a pistol; some 
one was experimenting with the famous echo. It came 
back, first faint and then louder, at last dying away like 
a sigh. On returning to the landing a cry of consterna- 
tion went up— the boat had gone to the ship ! Consola- 



The Midnight Sun. 89 

tion was needed. In darkness and mist there is no 
consolation like fire. Shavings were found, a fire built, 
and around its cheerful radiation the party sang— and 
shivered. The boat came back in an hour and the home- 
ward sail was one jvith which a poet would deal more 
fittingly than your correspondent. The stars twinkled 
over head and to every dip of the oar the waters glowed 
as with a silver flame. Now and then a salmon sprang 
from the deep, high up in air, rebounding to fill the water 
and air with sparks of light, beautiful as dew-drops 
shimmering in the rays of the silver moon. The steamer 
now appeared a floating palace, laying all resplendent 
with lights gleaming like friendly beacons in the distance. 
Upon arrival lunch was served, and with "good night" 
upon each lip, each sought rest amid the luxurious and 
commodious couches of the steamer. N. S. S. 



INIrs. Baker has resigned her lucrative position as a 
weather prophet. The position is open to the first 
applicant. 



OBITUARY. 

The passengers on the S. S. Elder desire to express 
their deep sympathy with Mrs. Flossie Hunter in the 
death of her twin children, Daisy Eagan and Wallace 
Hunter. 

Two little puppies born out at sea, 

One was Daisy, the other Daisee. 

They never had chance for frolic and fun, 

For their eyes ne"'er ope'd on the rising sun. 



90 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

It was particularly requested that "no flowers" be 
sent, as the interment was to be strictly private, for 

We buried them deep at dead of night, 
While phosphoric lights were gleaming; 

Not a sailor gave forth his farewell song 

O'er the grave where our puppies lie dreaming. 

F. G. 



PROGRAMME, SEPT. 19, 1889. 

1. Song Major Allen 

2. Recitation (by request) Mrs. E. W. Peattie 

3. Music— Piano Solo Miss Daisy Eagan 

4. Song Mrs. Baker 

5. Recitation Doctor Guernsey 

6. Recitation, by I. B. Hammond Mr. Fred 

7. Music and Song— "Old Black Joe" (company chorus) . . 

Captain Hunter 

8. Gude Neicht. 

Matter intended for Friday's edition should be 
handed in by ten o'clock A. M. 



SIWASH SCINTILLATIONS. 

Where do all Alaska roads lead °1 Where, but to Loring. 



Where was Moses when the light went out ? Ans. : On 
the forecastle deck. 



A premium is offered to the man (women barred) 
who knows who George W. Elder was, is or may be. 



The Midnig-ht Sun. 91 

Why is Alaska a great monarchy ? Because she has 
an unbroken succession of reigns. 



A superior Siwash perfume can be obtained of Yealth 
Bros., Kassan Bay. , Sample smells given away. 



Although the voyagers on the Elder have been sur- 
rounded with mist, it is conceded that nothing has missed 
them. 



If Capt. James C. Hunter— may his tribe increase- 
be the Elder Captain, how can he be younger than any 
other commander? 



AVhy has not the Governor of North Carolina been 
heard to make his time honored and plaintive remark to 
the Governor of South Carolina so frequently of late? 
Because there is no longer any whiskey on board. Alas 
and alack-a-day. 

ADVERTISEMENTS. 
Inserted at Alaskan i-ates — "Sickem" dollar per line, strictly in 
advance. 

Notice— Dresses, shoes, hats, gloves, and all similar 
superfluities taken in exchange for totems, mats, brace- 
lets or other necessaries required by tourists. N. B. — A 
choice assortment of perfumes always on hand by Jim 
Siwash, Burroughs Bay. 



Wanted— To correspond with a young lady with ten 
or eleven children (slightly cross-eyed preferred), by a 
gentleman of means and leisure. No triflers. Address 
^Hx E. D. E. N., this office. 



92 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

Wanted— Five hundred men to cut ice in Glacier Bay, 
to clear the Steamship Elder's way. Apply on board. 



Dry Goods— Clothing', boots and shoes— Avarranted all 
second-hand. Address Stateroom B, S. S. Elder. 



Wanted — An Alaska tourist who has not a curio. 
Apply to freight clerk. 

This was written by James Calderwood in roman letters with a 
pen, and copied on a bill of fare copy press, and each member was 
given a copy. 



A TIDAL WAVE. 

While in Alaska in the year 1887, I had an experience 
that will long satisfy my desire to navigate Glacier Bay 
in front of the Pacific Glacier. Were it not for the 
sagacity of the Indians that accompanied me, I think 
there would have been a long time between scenes, or 
at least there might have been serious trouble. I am 
perfectly willing to give the Siwash credit for fully under- 
standing the action of those peculiar kinds of tidal waves. 

These waves are caused by the breaking of the ice, 
which in crowding its way into the ocean, forces its front 
beyond the land. This front or face in time becomes too 
heavy to bear its own weight, and so, with a wild roar 
like sharp peals of thunder, breaks off in vast slabs and 
descends into the ocean, there to be buried with a plunge 
which sends forth waves like mountains, which travel 
with wonderful rapidity from shore to shore along the 
straits, and finally spend their force upon reaching the 
open ocean. 

Upon hearing the "fishy" tales of wonderful finds of 
rich mines, that are spun by the prospectors along the 



A Tidal Wave. 93 

Alaska coast, one is liable to take a risk, through ignor- 
ance of the country, that he would consider foolhardy 
after years of experience. However, we all have to get 
our experience, and I will give you a little of mine on 
that occasion. 

I was told by an old miner of a very fine prospect 
which he wished me to go and examine. At that time I 
was unable to accompany him on his return to his claim, 
but promised to come a few days later. He gave me the 
directions and told me where I could get some Indians 
that would take me to his camp when I was ready to 
make the trip. As soon as possible I got two Indians 
with a large canoe and started for the mine. We had a 
long distance to travel, and during the still night while 
on our journey we could hear the ice break for a distance 
of over twenty miles, and at times there were large waves 
rolling up the straits that were like heavy ocean swells. 

After traveling two days and nights we reached the 
head of Glacier Bay, below the Pacific Glacier, which has 
a body of ice fully seven and a half miles in width and 
a height from the water's edge to the top of the face of 
the broken ice from three hundred to seven hundred feet, 
and this ponderous mass of ice is moving slowly but irre- 
sistably into the ocean. If one could measure the bulk 
of ice that breaks off daily it would be found to greatly 
exceed in size any block of buildings in the United States, 
and many times there are pieces of ice that break off 
which are fully a mile in length and from fifty to one 
hundred feet thick (back from the edge) and fully six 
hundred feet in height. With this immense body of solid 
ice thrown into the sea from such a height, one can but 
faintly imagine the result. 



94 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

The soiind of tlimider is tame by the roar of the 
breaking of this falling mass, and still less is the noise 
of the descending ice when compared with the roaring of 
ten thonsand icebergs that have broken off and are laying 
where they have been huddled together by the wind that 
is constantly blowing off the face of the glacier and 
driving the ice back up the straits, where it is met by the 
tide and kept jammed together, covering thousands of 
acres. These icebergs range in size from a few hundred 
pounds to hundreds of feet in diameter. And with one 
of those tidal waves rolling into this field of floating ice, 
it sends each berg to and fro, rubbing and grinding, one 
against the other. Then comes the sound that quiets all 
others. 

After we ari-ived at the head of the bay and looked 
in wonder at the beauty and grandeur that Nature has 
put in motion, that has continued and will last thousands 
of years. We started to cross the broad channel in front 
of the glacier: and as we paddled our canoe, we stopped 
now and then and listened to the constant roar of the 
breaking ice and gazed into the immense caverns of ice 
running back into the body of the glacier. 

Here the Indians seemed anxious to push the huge 
canoe through the water much faster than before, and 
wanted me to act as steersman, which I did, being much 
pleased to have them show a better will to work than 
at any time during our journey. However, we had not 
progressed )nore than two or three miles when from the 
highest front of the glacier there came a roar, and with 
it the front of the glacier sank into the ocean and was 
buried with a plunge that sent a wave like a mountain 



96 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

toward our frail craft with great speed, and as it passed 
man}^ icebergs and swallowed them up by its rolling 
motion, I felt as though our canoe would soon be in the 
same fix. The Indian's knowledge came into play, and 
in his own language he cried, '^Hyack, Hyack," and 
pointed for me to steer the canoe toward the coming 
wave, at the same time paddling with all force. 

We had some time to wait for the wave to reach us, 
and had gained considerable headway before the wave 
struck us, but most unexpectedly to me, I felt our 
canoe ride well up the side of the wave and then 
seemingly stop and start back with the wave. The 
Indian again yelled "Hyack, Hyack," which was their 
word for hurry. They sprang heavily on their pad- 
dles, but still we went with the wave, stern first, each 
minute expecting to lose control of the canoe, and be 
rolled over and close the scene. Still we managed to 
keep head on, and our boat spun through the water like 
a porpoise, while we were fast approaching the flow of 
ice that lay back of us. One of the Indians, seeing we 
could not mount the wave, stooped and grasped the large 
stone anchor that was tied to the bow of our boat and 
heaved it overboard. Our canoe brought up against the 
line so sharply that it seemed as though it would jerk 
its fastening loose, but to my great surprise we mounted 
the wave and in an instant were over its crest on 
the down hill side, and in a few minutes all danger was 
past, as each following wave was smaller. The throwing 
of the anchor overboard made such a resistance in the 
ivater that it pulled the boat over the crest of the wave 
and stopped our backward rush to the floating ice, which 
would have ground our frail craft into pieces had it not 



A Glacier. 97 

been for the knowledge of the Indians, who fully under- 
stood the action of the waves and knew what to do in 
time of need. 

We waited for the waves to subside, then pulled 
our anchor on board and bent heavily on the paddles 
until we reached the shore, where I expected to find a 
rich mine, which Nature had hidden from the roving 
prospectors for many years, to be discovered by an old 
friend of mine from the Black Hills— John Allen. To 
my regret it did not enthuse me, and once more I charged 
experience with seeing a most wonderful freak of Nature, 
but I am willing to be satisfied with one experience of 
riding a tidal wave. 

On the return trip we saw some small pieces of ice 
break off, but they did not create much of a wave, and 
we finally reached Douglas Island with no further 
excitement. 

A GLACIER. 

Up Alaska's rocky sboi'es, where the summer sun prolongs the 

day until morn, 
But in the winter they fade away, and shorten down to but 

four hours for a day. 
There the mountains are high and the ravines are deep. 
The growth of vegetation has long been at sleep, 
Wrapped in their mantles of ice and of snow, 
Awaiting the actions of time to tell them to grow. 

But the glaciers, how grand ! What power they present, 
With their ponderous weight and motion that the world's 

nations can not resist ; 
They crowd doAvn the mountains to the water so deep, 
And with their huge masses of ice and of snow, 
They appear like a great mystery put into motion 
That will last thousands of years. 



98 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

To imagine their origin and hunt up their source, 

Would be going back centuries to find not a trace to start them, 

While they so grandly appear, to the edge of the ocean they 

crowd and they shear, 
Until their huge masses no longer can stand the strain of their 

weight ; 
With a wild roar like sharp peals of thunder they loosen their 

hold 
And descend into the ocean to be buried with a plunge, that 

sends forth waves like mountains. 
They rise and they fall, with the tide for their power; 
They float out to ocean and there melt away. 
AYith the warm wind like the heat from a furnace that fans 

the broad ocean. 
They rise in vapor and are turned into rain, 
There to fall on the mountains and take the form of a glacier 

ae-ain. 



A TRIP TO THE SEVEN DEVILS MOUNTAIN. 

Some twelve years ago I joined Jonathan Bourne, Jr., 
in sending a mining engineer to the various mining camps 
for the purpose of buying or locating mining properties. 
We made arrangements with S. K. Bradford to act in 
that capacity. He Ayas to travel thi-ough tlie numy new 
camps then being opened up, as well as to the old ones. 
New finds bemg reported nearly every day in the Seven 
Devils ■Mountains in Idaho, we decided to have hiin inves- 
tigate this ncAV district. During the sunnner he located 
a number of gold claims in the Placer Basin, situated at 
the head of Bear Creek, in the south end of. the Seven 
Devils ^[ountain, Washington County, Idaho. He also 
secured a bond on some copper properties in the north 
end of these mountains and located quite a number of 
others. In October I started out on a tour of inspection. 



A Trip to the Seven Devils. 99 

We had decided to attempt to open the copper mines 
during- the winter, as they were situated in a low altitude 
on the banks of the Snake River, where the snows woukl 
not interfere with the Mdnter work. 

At Salubria, Idaho, we purchased large quantities of 
tools, provisions, powder and vegetables, and loading the 
same on a large freighting outfit, sent them to the Little 
Salmon ^Meadow, the end of the wagon road. There the 
freighters were to make arrangements with a pack train 
to carry the goods over the old Boise Basin and Lewiston 
pack trail to Warwick's Bar on Snake River, just below 
our copper ndne. As soon as the goods were loaded, Mr. 
Bradford and myself started to the Placer Basin. After 
examining this property, we secured two pack animals 
and one saddle animal, which we loaded with provisions 
and blankets and started for the copper mine. 

We left the Placer Basin alxnit three o'clock in the 
afternoon and at about dark camped at the foot of 
Smith's Mountain. After picketing our horses, we spread 
our blankets down and went to bed. About 1 A. M. we 
were awakened by our horses trying to get away. They 
Avere tugging at the picket ropes, snorting and giving 
every evidence of great terror. We could hear animals 
running but could not see them on account of the dark- 
ness. Finally a large buck came tearing down the moun- 
tain through our camp and nearly over our beds. The 
deer was followed by some animal. We could not see 
whether it was a mountain lion or a bear. However, we 
fired a few shots at it and went back to bed. The deer 
staid around our camp until nearly daylight, evidently 
fearing us less than the wild animals. 



100 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

"We were up and aAvay shortly after daylight. The 
country was very abrupt and rocky. The trail was very 
dim, being- simply an old Indian trail. Certainly the man 
who named these mountains the Seven Devils had a head 
on him as long as a fish pole. His only error was in the 
number— he should have said seventy instead of seven. 
During the day I killed a great number of mountain 
grouse. The country was full of them. I had never seen 
them in any such numbers in any part of the west. We 
traveled all day, up and down rocky ridges and along 
the sides of various steep mountains, but we could not 
find a place suitable for a camp. About dark we came 
to a point where the entire surface of the mountain side 
had slid down, leaving a mass of fallen trees and boulders 
through which it was impossible to pass. The elevation 
was then about 7,000 feet. Mr. Bradford was leading 
one pack animal, the other two horses were following 
and I was bringing up the rear. We decided that the 
only thing we could do was to tr}^ to pass down around 
the lower end of the slide. 

After about two hours travel through the dark, we 
reached the lower end of the slide and rounding it, 
started up on the other side. Here was where my friend 
Bradford had me on the point of surrendering the belt 
as the champion mountain climber. In mj^ desperate 
struggle not to be outdone, I grasped the tail of the rear 
pack horse and wound the long hair around my arm 
and let the panting beast pull me up the mountain side. 
This gave me a rest, and I was able to say, "Push on, 
old man, I'm with you." This was a mean trick, but it 
saved me from being compelled to cry ' ' Quits. ' ' 

However, about midnight we reached the summit, 



A Trip to the Seven Devils. 101 

3,000 feet above the lower edge of the slide. Folio wmg 
the backbone of the suniiuit for about a mile, we came 
to a small saddle in the mountains large enough to spread 
our blankets on and camped here for the night. We 
were compelled to* melt snow for water with which to 
cook our supper and for our horses to drink. The next 
day we succeeded in reaching the foot of the mountain 
at the Pollock Ranch on Rapid River. Here we remained 
for the night and the next morning pushed on for the 
copper mine. 

During the daj^ we met a man by the name of Collins, 
who gave us directions for making a cut-off which would 
save us some ten miles travel. We took his advice, 
although at one time it seemed it would be the means of 
losing all of our pack animals. Whether the gentleman 
knew that the trail had been washed out or not, I am not 
prepared to say, but was told he said he would have what 
was left of that pack train the following day. However, 
he missed his calculation, although I would have sold 
cheap, if there had been a buyer, long before night. A 
little before dark we came to the summit of the mountain 
overlooking Snake River. Some five thousand feet below 
us, and almost within a stone's throw horizontally, were 
the plunging, seething waters of the Snake River, as it 
wound its way in the sinuous manner of the snake 
through the narrow gorge forming its rocky bank. The 
opposite bank sloped back into Oregon, with bunches of 
timber and parks intervening. I gazed at all this grandeur 
and felt called upon to bring the camera into play, that 
I might preserve this beautiful view. After taking a 
number of views we started to descend the mountain, 
knowing that a mis-step by man or beast would hurl us 



102 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

down into Snake River thousands of feet below. We 
had not ^one more than a quarter of a mile, when we 
came to a small landslide in a giileh, which had evidently 
occurred quite recently, and carried away our trail, leav- 
ing the rocks perfectly bare in the bottom of the gulch. 
The perpendicular walls rising on the side of the trail 
made it impossible for our pack animals to turn around 
without throwing them off the trail down into Snake 
River, some thousands of feet below. 

I was in the lead and on seeing the condition of the 
trail called to Bradford, who was bringing up the rear, 
that we were almost certain to lose our stock if we 
attempted to cross the break. Stopping the pack animals, 
I went to the edge of the wash-outs and by sticking my 
toes into the cracks in the rocks, was able to reach the 
other side. As I stood there, pondering over our hopeless 
situation, the head pack animal started down the trail 
towards the wash-out. I was unable to stop him and 
could only shout "Whoa," but that was not heeded until 
he came within thirty feet of the wash-out, when he 
stopped and looked at the gap which cut the trail com- 
pletely in two. He turned his head around, looked up 
the trail back of him, saw it was utterly impossible to 
turn around without falling in the river below., then 
started forward on a trot, and with a bound cleared the 
gap and scrandjled up the opposite side. Each of the 
other animals followed, stopped at about the same place, 
looked around, and seeming to realize the hopelessness 
of attempting to turn, rushed forward, cleared the gap 
and scrambled up on the other side, their packs rubl)ing 
against the overhanging rocks, but, fortunately, it did 
not throw anv of them down the mountain. 



A Trip to the Seven Devils. 103 

Two hours later found us at the camp near our copper 
mine, where some miners whom we had ordered sent in 
from Lewiston to work in the mines, were encamped. 
The next day we examined the copper mines, and finding 
that through some o.versight the blacksmithing outfit had 
been omitted, I took one of our men and a number of 
animals and started out for Lewiston to purchase the 
outfit. Through the advice of Mr. Holland we started 
down Snake River, over what he called a good trail. I 
nmst say that in all of my mining experience through the 
mountains I have never been forced to travel over a 
rougher trail. Instead of being ten miles, we found it 
nearly thirty to the crossing of the Salmon River. No 
one was living there, nor could we find a boat or any 
other means of crossing the river. 

It was getting late in the fall, considerable slush ice 
was running and it was very cold. We found some pieces 
of logs, and taking some of our pack ropes made a small 
raft. I removed all of my clothing and placed the same 
upon the raft. Then tying a number of pack ropes to- 
gether, I took hold of the end of one of them and selecting 
the best pack animal in the lot, started to ford the river. 
Thinking the river was not very deep, I started the animal 
ahead of me into the water, taking his tail in one hand 
and the end of the rope in the other. In less than ten feet 
the animal was swimming and the current was so swift 
that I could not get back if I wished, so was compelled to 
hold on to the horse's tail. The animal struck out for 
the opposite shore, but the current landed him down the 
river more than two hundred feet below where we started. 
I chmg to the horse's tail with one hand and held on to 
the rope with the other, but was nearly chilled through 



104 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

on reaching- the other bank. In drawing the raft across 
I drew it clear under water and of course my clothes 
were just as wet as if I had kept them on in the first 
place. Then the man on the other side pulled the raft 
back to him, loaded it with our saddles and camping 
outfit and I pulled it across the river. In this manner 
all of our goods were brought over. All of the horses 
having followed mine across, the man on the other side 
of the river climbed upon the raft and I dragged him 
safely over. Our journey was then resumed to Grange- 
ville, where I took the stage. 

I have traveled through all the mountains of the West, 
through the Black Hills in the early days with geological 
surveys, through the rugged mountains of Colorado, Mon- 
tana, Washington, Nevada and Alaska, and in all of my 
experience I am free to say that I never took a trip over 
as rough a country, or where the hardships were as 
wearing upon both mind and body, as on this trip. Since 
then trails have been built and the trip is now one of 
comparative ease. 



GETTING OFF MY HIGH HORSE. 

Many years ago, while helping in the erection of a 
saw and grist mill at Taylor's Bend, Arkansas, I had a 
rather laughable adventure. At that time, however, I 
failed fo see the humor of the situation. 

In and about Taylor 's Bend there was quite a sprink- 
ling of the Johnny Rebs, relics of the war, who had no 
use for us "Yanks," as they called us. There were some 
persons who treated us with every courtesy, but there 
was enough of the "hobo" element to make things un- 



Getting Off My High Horse. 105 

pleasant for us. As time progressed oiir forces increased, 
and naturally we had quite a few agitators among us. 
We kept a number of ponies and a very nice span of 
mules for running about with, and one morning, on wak- 
ing, we found our niules had vanished; strayed or stolen, 
we knew not which. 

After consulting Mr. Sealy, the proprietor of the plant, 
I started in search of the missing animals. I Avas astride 
a small pony and with much coaxing and whipping soon 
found a hot trail. My pony, however, became fagged 
and almost gave up the race, when I espied a few hundred 
yards ahead of me a man seemingly engaged in cinching 
the saddle girth on a large, fine-looking animal. On 
seeing this horse, I envied the owner, and thought if I 
Avere astride him I would soon be up with the mules. 

I rode up and asked the stranger if he had seen my 
mules. The man was evidently very much under the 
influence of liquor, but he told me he had seen the mules 
about four hours since, then with a sorroAvful, sympathiz- 
ing expression he said he feared I would never catch them 
with "that rat." Naturally, I asked him how he would 
trade. This seemed to affect him deeply, for he sighed, 
stroked the beautiful animal's neck and said he wouldn't 
care to trade if the horse Avere not so high he couldn't 
get on him. After a little palaver we swapped horses, 
I giving him all my money to boot, excepting one or two 
dollars. 

He seemed to feel deeply the separation from his 
horse, and urged me to take good care of him, as he Avas 
an old faA'orite of his family. The sight of the money 
cheered him somcAA^hat, so he jumped on my pony and 



106 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

rode off, humming a lively tune, while I turned and 
mounted my high horse. 

After a few desperate jumps in response to my nag- 
ging, the noble animal I had just acquired stopped short, 
and breathing like a steam engine, shivered from stem 
to stern. It was quite a minute or so before I fully 
realized what had happened to me and that my high 
horse would be better stuffed and on wheels than as he 
was. 

^[y language when I thought of my lost pony and 
money would have been resented by any self-respecting- 
horse, but the one I had purchased had not enough energy 
left to kick. So I came down off my high horse and 
hiding my saddle in the brush started on the run after 
my missing mules. I covered quite a bit of ground in 
the next two hours, and when night came on found my 
mules grazing along the banks of a' small stream. Near 
them were two men busily engaged in cooking their 
evening meal, but who broke and ran on seeing me. 

Securing the mules, I started back, but did not go far, 
being worn out with the exertions of the day. I lay down 
with the mules lashed to my wrist; but towards morning 
I awoke with a start to see them disappearing over the 
hill with the thieves. Rousing up I seized my gun and 
running after them, fired twice. The thieves skedaddled 
as before, and I was once more in possession of my mules. 

After securing my horse, I started for home, not caring 
to explain what sort of a "white elephant" he was, 
hoping that in time he would mend or get his spirit back, 
but I must say that we never got an hour's work out of 
the "high horse."' 



Romance Without Love. 107 

ROMANCE WITHOUT LOVE. 

While traveling across the continent between San 
Francisco and Boston, with intermediate stops at Chicago 
and XcAV York, I was by chance brought in company 
with a most remarkable traveling companion in the per- 
son of a lady. Had this journey been pre-arranged, it 
could not possibly have been carried out with more pre- 
cision as regards time and location. I will attempt to 
explain but a few of the coincidences connected with 
this strange acquaintance and our extended journey. I 
say "extended'' journey, for not only did we seemingly 
shadow each other across the continent, but on leaving 
Boston, which I had supposed to be the end of my journey, 
I found that I would have this lady's company for another 
thousand miles. 

On leaving Oakland on an overland Southern Pacific 
train, via Ogden and Omaha, I entered' the sleeper for a 
five days' journey to Chicago, where I expected to stop 
some eight or ten days, going from there to New York 
and then on to Boston, where I had some friends who 
were interested with me in Alaska. I had chosen a central 
section in the sleeper some days in advance, that I might 
have as nuich comfort as possible on the journey. By 
the time the train was ready to start the car had filled 
up to its utmost capacity, and on glancing around, I 
noticed a lady on the opposite side of the aisle, who 
seemed to be occupying a section. 

The occupants of the sleeper all being strangers to 
me, I retired, and did not arise until the porter called, 
telling us we would have breakfast in twenty minutes. 
I made haste and was soon ready to leave the car, Avlien 
I noticed that the platform was covered with ice. This 



108 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

was not stranae, for we were at Truckee, one of the 
highest points along the road. I stepped from the ear 
to the foot-stool, which rocked and slipped dangerously. 
I stopped on the platform to see who would follow and 
what their experience would be on the "shaky" stool. I 
was about to call the attention of the porter to the 
danger, when the lady whom I had noticed the precedrag 
evening, came down the steps, and before the porter 
could caution her, she stepped on the stool, which slipped 
and threw her to the platform with great force. I sprang 
forward and with the help of another gentleman and 
the porter we carried her into the car. She seemed to 
be suffering considerable pain, her ankle being sprained. 
Upon my asking her if I should order her some breakfast, 
she replied that I might. After breakfast I went through 
the train and found a physician, who examined her ankle 
and said it would soon be all right. During the next 
four days we had a number of conversations, but she did 
not mention her name or her home, simply saying she 
had been to South America. On leaving me' at Chicago 
she bade me good day and I thought no more about her, 
until on entering the car again for- New York I found 
this same lady occupying the same position in the sleeper 
that she had coming across the continent. I was sur- 
prised and remarked how strange it was we should meet 
again and occupy the same seats as before. She seemed 
someAvhat sarcastic, saying this was a queer coincidence 
and she hoped she would not suffer a fall as on our first 
meeting. During the next thirty-six hours she seemed 
suspicious of me and I said but little to her, but on 
leaving the train I made the remark that I supposed this 
would be the end of our journey together, to which she 



Romance Without Love. 109 

replied, "Yes, indeed; I have been thinking how strange 
this second meeting has been." At this we parted and 
during the next ten days I saw nothing of my lady trav- 
eling companion. Having completed my business, I took 
the eleven o'clock. P. M. train for Boston, and in the 
morning on returning to my berth, after completing my 
toilet, who should I see but this strange lady who had 
accouipanied me from California, then met me in Chicago, 
now here again on this train going to Boston. We 
stood gazing at each other for a fcAV seconds, when she 
broke the silence by saying in a stern voice, "What does 
this mean?" "]\Iadam, " said I, "this is unaccountable. 
You have my name and know my business, and can find 
people in Boston who will vouch for me, while as yet I 
am not aware of your name or place of residence, so I 
do not see that I can be blamed for following you." This 
remark seemed to change her attitude and she begged 
my pardon, saying she never gave her name while trav- 
eling. We soon reached Boston and I made the remark 
that I thought this would end our traveling together. 
She answered that she would not be surprised now to 
find me on the next car she entered, but I assured her 
that I was going west, while I did not know where she 
was going. We parted at the station, each thinking that 
would certainly be the last we should see of each other. 
After remaining in Boston some ten days, I was per- 
suaded to go to Nova Scotia to examine a mine for some 
Boston men. When the time arrived to start the friend 
for whom I was going said he had a friend who was 
going to Halifax and that he would like to have her 
accompany me. She was stopping at his house and he 
was to bring her down to the train. While waiting at 



110 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

the station I was thinking that I should have a ditt'erent 
traveling' companion from the mysterious lady, when to 
my breath-stopping surprise, who should I see my friend 
assist from the carriage but the same lady who had been 
my traveling companion for the last three thousand miles. 
I began to laugh, but she fairly turned pale when she 
saw me. My friend introduced her as Mrs. Young, and 
when the usual formalities had been gone through, I 
made the remark that although I had been traveling 
with j\frs. Young on every train since leaving San Fran- 
cisco, I had not known the lady's name. ]\Irs. Young- 
said fate surely had something to do with these unex- 
plainable happenings. 

After leaving our friend and taking the train, Mrs. 
Young had many apologies to make for her actions. 
She thought she was being followed and that I had 
assumed the disguise of a mining man to either rob 
her or lay some plot. That was the first time I was ever 
taken for a confidence man. On arriving at Halifax I 
was invited to her house, where I was treated to a fine 
dinner. 

A TRIP TO NOME. 

Among the many stampedes which have sent the 
avaricious gold seekers to their long homes, there has 
probably never been one that has involved greater outlaj^ 
than the Nome Stampede of June, 1900. But this was 
not without apparent proof of the existence of wonderful 
deposits of gold in that far northern country, for during 
the latter part of 1899 there had been a large amount of 
gold taken from the beach and some of the creeks, by 
the most primitive methods and with the crudest appli- 



A Trip to Nome. Ill 

anees, and on the return of the mmers with their dust 
and their glowing descriptions of the country and of the 
character of the ground which contained the precious 
metals, great interest was aroused in the mining world, 
and capital was not slow in enlisting in any seemingly 
good device for extracting the gold from the beach and 
creeks. 

And here I once more sought out one of the rainbow 
chasers with a view of getting a full statement of how 
the land lay. I found my man, and after a number of 
interviews formulated a plan by which I was to beat the 
game and get rich in a few months. I laid my scheme 
before a few of my most intimate friends and found no 
trouble in launching the enterprise. I designed a dredge 
which would stand on rollers in the water from four to 
eight feet deep, and with a swinging bucket ladder, 
M'-ould dig the sands up and pass them over a gold-saving 
device, returning them back into the bay after the gold 
had been extracted. From the reports of people who 
had been working the beach, telling of the amount of 
gold they had produced, I felt that after ninety days' 
run with the tripod dredge, I would never see another 
poor day, and my partner was even more sanguine than I. 
His imagination of his future wealth was so vivid that 
he promised a friend a gold bath tub from his share. 
However, I did not see where we could lose, for we went 
fully prepared for all emergencies, and when the time 
arrived for our departure, our stock became very valu- 
able ; but there was none for sale. 

We completed our machine and gave it a test both as 
to its power to move and dig, which was very satisfac- 
torv. AVe built a number of other machines to work in 



112 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

the gravel in case our dredge proved a failure from any 
unexpected canse. We also arranged to take supplies 
and men, that we might be independent from the rest 
of the camp. 

Now came the long trip of three thousand miles to 
reach the promised land. Were I to try to describe this 
trip in detail it would take another volume larger than 
this to contain the many interesting features, so I will 
only relate a few of the most important ones. 

The first incident of interest after leaving the Sound 
was on reaching Dutch Harbor, where we stopped to 
bury a man who had died on board. It having been ascer- 
tained on looking over his effects that he was a Free 
Mason, the Masons took charge of the body and buried 
him with the ceremonies of the order. During the roll 
call the name of F. Lamb was called, giving residence 
and number of lodge, and I recognized it as a cousin of 
mine whom I had not seen for thirty years. We soon 
grasped hands and discussed other queer coincidences of 
our strange meeting. 

After leaving Dutch Harbor, we pushed up on through 
Behring Sea for some six hundred miles, where we began 
to meet the flow of ice from the Yukon River, and in 
another six hours our good ship "Senator" was going 
under a slow bell, dodging the heavy ice floes. During 
this time we met many vessels, both steam and sail, each 
looking for an opening to push their way north, but 
thicker and thicker became the ice, until the opening 
through which we had come closed up altogether. Here, 
within a few miles of each other, lay fourteen vessels, 
all bound for the gold fields of Nome. 

Our vessel laid up along the ice floe, and many of the 



A Trip to Nome. 113 

passengers went on the ice and had their pictures taken 
by the camera fiends. 

We had then been some fourteen days from Seattle, 
and excitement ran high among the passengers when we 
found we were all, drifting at the rate of three and a 
quarter miles an hour to the northeast, and there were 
fears that this great ice floe would reach the shore and 
the back ice would crush our ship as if it were an egg 
shell. I talked man.y times with our commander, Captain 
Patterson, with whom I had made many trips to South- 
eastern Alaska, and whom I knew to be a most excellent 
commander, and could see that he was very much worried, 
as he realized his utter helplessness in his present con- 
dition. Some of the passengers walked the deck both 
night and day, trying to find some solution of the situa- 
tion. Others began to drown their fears in drink, while 
others climbed to the mast-head, looking for an opening 
through which we might expect escape. During this time 
a sailing vessel named the "Sutton" struck an ice floe 
and sank to her deck, but being loaded with lumber she 
did not go to the bottom. This added more fear to the 
nervous passengers on our ship. During the night the ice 
began to shift, showing it was meeting with resistance ; 
our captain tried pushing his way through the small 
openings to the eastward, and during the next twenty- 
four hours we probably made two miles. On the follow- 
ing morning we tried bucking the smaller icebergs, but 
soon found we were springing the ship's plates, causing 
her to commence leaking. We once more stopped the 
engines and waited developments until another opening 
appeared, and gently pushing the ice apart we were 
soon able to increase our speed, until we Anally reached 



114 Reminiscences of Frontier Life, 

open water, having spent five days since leaving Dutch 
Harbor. 

During this time our coal supply had become reduced, 
and as the captain thought it unsafe to try to reach 
Nome without a larger supply, we turned back to Dutch 
Harbor, which port we reached after losing some seven 
days. Here we met a large number of boats bound for 
Nome. 

After getting our coal bunkers filled we again started 
for the gold fields. We finally reached the ice floe, but 
were able to crowd our way through with the help of the 
revenue cutter "Bear." After getting through the ice 
floe we lost no time in reaching Nome, where we found 
a number of boats which had succeeded in getting 
through the ice before us. 

On our arrival we found a great many tents pitched 
along the beach for many miles, indicating that mining 
had commenced in earnest. We got ashore as soon as 
possible, and commenced planning for future operations. 

It is well to say that the richness of the camp would 
not justify the purchase of any gold bath tub by my 
enthusiastic partner. 

During the next three months I witnessed many very 
exciting incidents, which will long be remembered by 
myself and others. 

The water along the beach at Nome is quite shallow 
for a mile and a half out from shore, and during a heavy 
gale from the southwest the waves sweep up the coast 
with such fury that it is almost impossible for a boat 
to lay at anchor, and during the heaviest gales all vessels 
raise anchor and put out to sea, to avoid being driven 
ashore. 



Meeting on the Trail. 115 

Not long after my arrival in Nome there came a heavy 
west wind while there were seventy-six vessels laying at 
anchor, being unloaded by lighters. The wind soon 
reached a hurricane speed, and most of the vessels that 
had power went to sea to avoid being driven ashore, but 
there were a number of sailing vessels which dragged 
their anchors and came ashore, and one by one those 
noble crafts which had sailed the ocean and reached their 
destination, were doomed to destruction on the beach. 
The great ship "Skookum," of three thousand tons bur- 
den, after some twelve hours pulling at her anchors, 
parted her chains, came in with a rush and was landed 
high on the beach. 

One of the strangest freaks of the waves was the 
sinking of a large stern-wheeler about three-quarters of 
a mile from shore by the seas breaking over her. During 
the next ten hours following the sinking she was shoved 
along on the bottom until she reached the shore and was 
pushed high and dry on the beach. 

During this gale there was probably five hundred 
thousand dollars worth of property destroyed, and many 
a poor miner lost his all and was left stranded on the 
beach. 

MEETING ON THE TRAIL. 

Some years ago I was traveling through the mining 
country known as "Trail" and "Boundary Creek" in 
British Columbia. 

It was the custom in those days to travel by saddle 
horse and pack animal, as there were no wagon roads 
whereby anyone could reach the numerous i)i-ospects 
which the prospectors liad been trying to develop in 



116 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

those high mountain ranges. "When once in the mining 
camps one woukl frequently hear of new discoveries 
farther up the mountains and over the other side of 
the ranges. 

The tales that were told were sufficient to turn one's 
head, and it Avas delightful to think that one could kiss 
goodbye to poverty, live in the lap of luxury and com- 
miserate those who would not take the risk of climbing 
the mountainous peaks to barter for one of those bonanzas 
which could be obtained by paying a prospector a small 
sum for his claim — enough money to settle his little bills 
and fit him out for another trip. 

However, I was chasing one of those rainbows, ex- 
pecting to find the bag of gold where some prospector 
said it was, and as usual it was just over the other side 
of the highest range in all that country. So I mounted 
my horse and struck the trail one morning, knowing it 
would take me some seven or eight hours to make the trip, 
where I expected to see the beginning of another imagined 
fortune. After climbing the steep mountain through a 
dense forest, I finally reached the summit, and here sud- 
denl}^ met an old acquaintance— Mr. Corbin of Spokane. 
He and his engineer had been climbing the opposite side 
to meet me, not by appointment, but by chance, on that 
high range of mountains in a dense forest. Had we 
planned this meeting and been timing ourselves with the 
best chronometers we could not have done better. 

However, I soon ran down my prospect and joined 
him on my return to camp, where we spent some days 
reconnoitering over the mountains. 

Since that time, some of the prospects that had but 
a few feet of work done on them have turned out to be 



My English Friend. 117 

fine paying properties, and still I am hunting for a pros- 
pect that is what the miner thinks it is. 

MY ENGLISH FRIEND. 

What a little world we live in, after all! When as 
children we look at the large map on the wall of the 
school room or spell out carefully w-o-r-l-d, it is indeed 
to our youthful imagination a vast and terrible place. 
But when in after years we leave our little back yards 
and go abroad in the land, meeting the same people, 
hearing the same language, witnessing the same tragedies 
and comedies, then does this vast world grow small 
indeed. 

I was traveling through Ireland with an American 
friend. We were seated one day in a compartment ear, 
and during our conversation talked of America. An 
elderly Englishman sat opposite us and seemed much 
interested in the conversation. Finally he broke in by 
asking if I had been in Ameica, and in reply I informed 
him that I was an American. 

"Is that so!" said he. "Were you ever in Colorado?" 

"Yes," said I. 

"Is that possible," he said, with considerable em- 
phasis, "and were you ever in Georgetown, Colorado?" 

On my telling him that I had been there, he appeared 
much excited and exclaimed, "Is it possible! Did you 
know a man by the name of Prauhl ? ' ' 

I told him that I had employed such a man and had 
discharged him for stealing. "That he will, that he 
will," he exclaimed. 

I then learned that he Avas Prauhl's father-in-law and 
that he was then suppoi'ting the fellow's wife and 



118 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

children. This he related without hesitation, and in a 
few words gave me the man's history, which was nothing 
to be proud of. I told him what I knew of the man, 
and he unhesitatingly called him a vagabond. 

Upon arriving in Limerick my English friend left us. 
After our stay in Ireland we went on to London, in which 
place we generally took our lunch.es in a restaurant 
where the cooking was done on the American plan. 

On going to the counter one day to pay my check, 
whom did I see but my English friend. On seeing me he 
said, "Oh, Mr. Hammond. I'm glad to see you. I wish 
to make you acquainted with ]\[rs. Prauhl." She was 
cashier of the place where I had been taking my lunches. 

This introduction seemed to completely unnerve the 
poor woman, for she turned pale and seemed very much 
embarrassed. However, I told her all I knew of her 
husband and of his conduct in America, so far as my 
acquaintance went. There was no question about his 
being the run-away husband, as my description of him 
was perfect. The old gentleman, who was working a 
small farm, cordially invited me to go out and spend 
Sunday with him at his little farm some twenty miles 
from London, which I did, and on leaving England he 
gave me a handsome bunch of hot house grapes that 
would make any American smile like a darkey boy over 
a watermelon. 

MINING DEFINITIONS. 

A Prospector : A man who has a hole in the ground 
and is the biggest liar in town. 

A Proposition Man : One who wears laced boots and 
corduroy clothes, and never pays his board bill. 



Mining Definitions. 119 

A Mining' Expert : A man who can talk about forma- 
tions, ramifications, stratifications, dykes, zones, dips, 
spurs, angles, teligtites, oozites, seddemites and all other 
ites and tites; can see a mile into mother earth and 
invariably condernns the country. 

An Expert Miner : A man who loafs around town 
looking for a job as superintendent of a property, but 
would be a foreman if he can't be superintendent; one 
who worked on the Comstock in '70, and has been idle 
ever since. 

A '49er: A man who came to the Coast in the ''fall 
of '49 or spring of '50," and knows where there are dig- 
gings that will pay $1.50 to the pan, and is going back 
there just as soon as spring comes. 

A jMining Reporter: A man Avho wants you to sub- 
scribe for his paper, wants to write up your property, 
and Avants you to take him out in the best buggy in 
town, smokes your best cigars and borrows $5.00. 

A JMine Promoter : A man who has unlimited capital 
behind him, but not any in front of him; his watch is 
in soak. 

A Tenderfoot: A "Willie Boy" just out from the 
East. Carries a small arsenal with him, goes out pros- 
pecting with a shotgun and a fishing rod, buys a salted 
claim and gets money from mother to come home in 
the fall. 

An Amalgamator: A man who wears long finger 
nails, draws $5.00 a shift and deposits $10.00 in the bank 
every day, if the ore is low grade, and more in propor- 
tion on high grade ore. 

"A Local Mill Man of Note": One who has been 
on the eve of starting for South Africa or some other 



120 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

far-off region for seven years, to take charge of the con- 
struction of a 1000-stamp mill for a London syndicate; 
a man who has been positively kno^vn to have constructed 
a sawmill. 

An Assayer : A man who charges you $1.50 for throw- 
ing your samples out of the back door and writing you 
a certificate. 

A Mining Engineer: One who makes funny figures 
on blazed stumps and charges a big price. 



A FREE BATH. 

"When you have friends, use them," seemed to have 
been my motto on one of my return trips from Alaska. 
After due reflection, I blush to look back and think of 
the amount of "gall" I must have gathered while up 
North, and still have sufficient nerve left on my return 
to take possession of a friend's house in his absence, 
scare the domestic into allowing me the run of the house, 
order a bath and a room put in order, so that I could 
sleep off any surplus of nerve in case the proprietor put 
in an appearance before morning. 

While on my first trip to Alaska, we made a short 
stop at Nanaimo, where the old ship Aucon was to take 
on a supply of coal to run her some two thousand miles. 
During this time, while strolling over Vancouver Island 
in search of pinks and roses, I met a gentleman and 
three ladies. This gentleman seemed to be the center of 
attraction for the three ladies, and I looked on in envy 
to see any one man appropriating so many of the fair 
sex while others, less fortunate, went their way alone. 
However, by edging around I finally entered into a con- 



A Free Bath. 121 

versation with them. It was the beginning of a most 
happy friendship which has lasted seventeen years. 

My envied friend gave his name as M. R. Maddocks. 
of Seattle, and introduced the ladies as Mrs. John Wen- 
dell of Detroit, Miphigan ; INIrs. Dr. Bagley of Seattle, and 
Mrs. Bueget of Cleveland, Ohio, and I in turn told them 
that I was I. B. Hammond, of Chicago. We spent a very 
pleasant time talking, walking and gathering plants and 
flowers. Later we joined a party of excursionists and 
went out to a small island, where we celebrated the 
Fourth of July on British soil. 

During the next six days we compared notes and 
found that our likes and dislikes were very similar, and 
before parting I pledged myself to call on Mr. Maddocks 
on my return to Seattle, which I did, and there met Mrs. 
Maddocks, who was not even jealous of her husband 
having had the guardianship of so many ladies. In fact, 
she had been the prime mover in starting the excursion 
on that beautiful trip for the enjoyment of their friends, 
an experience of which they all can be proud. 

On returning to Seattle from one of my Alaska trips, 
I found my friends absent, and in place of the old domes- 
tic who had been with the family since my first acquain- 
tance, I found a sprinkle of Sweden in possession. That 
upset my happiness, especially as I had hired a carriage 
to bring myself and luggage up the hill and had already 
discharged the driver. Seeing a light in the house, I 
entered and began to feel really at home. You can 
imagine my surprise when I was told by the new servant, 
"Veil, Ise tank um come some time dis night." I said, 
"I just tank I stay right here," set down my grip and 
wiaited developments. 



122 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

After reading the paper, not being able to talk Swede, 
I said, "Say, tank I go bed," and started for my cus- 
tomar.y room. In passing the old familiar bath tub I 
concluded to use it as of old, and after drawing hot 
water sufficient to have scalded a porker, I took my bath 
and went to my room and was about to pass into the 
land of dreams, when I heard loud talking. I concluded 
to lie still, as I was in as little danger in bed as behind 
the door, and await developments. I really began to 
feel as if I had put myself in a position to be shot for a 
burglar or run in by the police. Footsteps on successive 
flights of stairs warned me that investigators were com- 
ing; the door of my much coveted room flew open and 
in came Mr. and Mrs. Maddocks. There was no shot 
fired, but I grasped their hands, snatched a kiss from 
the cheek of Mrs. M. and the fight was over. 



THE GO-DEVIL. 

Of the toil and tribulations involved in opening a 
new country, particularly a mining district, nothing is 
more disheartening, expensive and fruitful of awfully 
hard language than the getting of machinery to the 
mines. It takes much money to build roads into the 
mountains, over gulches, up the canyons and through 
the woods. Even trails for pack animals are expensive. 
Fallen timber, boulders, chuck holes, roots, sidling slopes, 
land-slides, snow-slides, wash-outs and wash-ins are the 
characteristics of all new roads into the mines. 

To get heavy machinery into a locality without build- 
ing a wagon road, is the office and function of the 
Go-Devil. 



The Go-Devil. 123 

It hasn't any wheels to "dish" the wrong way or 
slide off the grade, no axles to break. It doesn't drop 
into a chuck hok\ dump its load down the hill and fetch 
up on top in the bottom of the canyon. It crawls along 
on the ground wjth its load on its back, creeps over 
rocks, roots, ruts and things, and does great work in 
a loAvly modest way. It needs power, of course, but this 
can be supplied by animals, traction or stationary engines, 
pulley and tackle, capstan— anything that will persist- 
ently pull. It is a great saver of money— and profanity. 
It lays down and takes up its own road-bed as it goes. 
It can be made of any size. 

Two heavy timbers— say 8 feet long by 18 inches 
wide and 4 inches thick— rounded at the ends and shod 
at the bottom edges with heavy steel plates, are stoutly 
framed together, parallel, forming a sort of stout sled. 
A strong endless chain encircles each of these timbers 
lengthwise. The inside of the chains have forgings shaped 
like sections of channel iron, and the edges of the tim- 
bers (or runners) rest between these flanges as guides, 
holding the chain in place. To these several forgings 
heavy cast iron lugs are bolted, forming the outside of 
the chain to rest on the ground, like feet. Now, with 
these chains in place, daub some axle grease on the steel 
bottoms of the two side timbers (runners), put the 
machine on the ground, your load on the frame between 
the runners, hitch a horse to one end and start him. 

The lugs, resting on the ground, like feet, adhere 
thereto, but the two side timbers (runners) slip contin- 
uously on the greased chains, Avhich roll up from behind 
and roll down over the frcnit of the runners, thus making 



Resources in a Mining Camp. 125 

a continuous roadway for itself. All you need is power 
in front and a steering pole behind to take your load 
over any kind of ground not wholly impassable. It 
won't slide sideways or drop into gutters or ordinary 
quagmires. It will climb small logs, stones and be 
faithful. Being down on the ground it is easy to place 
loads on it or take loads off. It will go over any trail 
or road that a horse can work on. The illustration is 
from a photograph of a Go-Devil loaded with a cast iron 
mortar weighing 6,000 pounds, in actual operation. 
The Go-Devil is an invention of mv own. 



RESOURCES IN A MINING CAMP. 

It is not an unconnnon thing in a mining camp to 
encounter heavy losses by breakage, and heavy wear 
upon the many pieces of machinery that are used in the 
reduction of ores and the development of mining property. 
I will relate a few of the many difficulties I have helped to 
overcome ; damages which, at the time, looked as if 
nothing but a well-equipped machine shop and foundry 
could repair. But the old saying is "Xecessit}" is the 
mother of invention," and I will admit that necessity 
brings out resources which would in ordinary cases never 
be heard from. And again, in the early days of milling, 
the machinery was much more of an experimental kind 
than at present. Naturally, by long years of experience 
with manj^ of the brighter men of the country, the mills 
are at present less liable to derangement. 

We were running a 25-stamp mill, and, according to the 
old practice, the entire number of stamps were operated by 
the cams being placed on one shaft, and that was driven 



126 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

from one end. In due time this poor design resulted in 
the breaking of the cam shaft and everything came to a 
sudden stop. This, to all appearances, meant a shut- 
down of thirty to forty days, as every piece of machinery 
had to be drawn 275 mik^s by wagon, over the bad lands 
and mountain roads. This, one might say, would bring 
about the winter of our discontent, and at the same time 
bring out any ingenuity that might be in the many men 
affected by the shut-down. 

I presented to our blacksmith a plan to weld this 
shaft, which was 5^/2 inches in diameter and 22 feet long. 
This huge piece of iron could not be handled without 
blocks and tackle, and to Aveld it in a mining camp 
without the use of a steam hammer and big forges, 
looked like a hopeless undertaking. After talking with 
our smith, we formulated a plan and soon started to put 
it in operation. We connnenced by setting some men to 
removing the cams from the shaft, while others built a 
temporary furnace to hold sufficient charcoal to give the 
required heat. We then secured four large bellows to 
create the necessary blast. This being done, we took a 
stamp stem, with boss head and shoe, and arranged a 
battering ram to drive the two pieces of shaft together 
when Ave got the required heat. We then arranged some 
Vs "which would hold the shaft accurately in line while 
being heated. Then we set our anvil so it would receive 
the shaft as it was slid through the V, and so that the 
joined pieces, after being driven together by the batter- 
ing ram, would rest directly upon the anvil, when four 
hrinnnermen with heavy sledges could play their blows 
in the soft welding head of the shaft. We then proceeded 



Boring an Engine Cylinder. 127 

to train eight of our best hammermen from the mine to 
act as a steam hammer, using: reliefs of four at a time. 
Preparations being completed we set to work, accomp- 
lished the job without a hitch, and started the mill after 
a delay of three and one-half days. The mill ran for 
years without fuiHher demands on "Rules of Thumb." 



BORING AN ENGINE CYLINDER. 

One of my neighbors in Dakota, a mill owner, came 
to me, stating that the cylinder of his engine was leaking 
steam, and he expected to have to shut down and send 
to Chicago, as there was no lathe in the country at that time. 

After examining his engine we decided it could be 
repaired where it set, and that a set of rings could be sent 
by express and stage from Chicago, by wiring the dimen- 
sions. There was no boring bar in the country, and we 
must accomplish the job with what was at hand. 

We took a stamp stem and placed a tappet at each 
end of the cylinder, blocking them up in line and fasten- 
ing them securely. We then placed a tappet in the 
cylinder and used one key hole for the cutting tool and 
the other for holding the tappet securely to the stem by 
driving the tappet key tight on the gib. We forged the 
cutting tool out of a pick point. We then placed a large 
pulley at the outer end of the cylinder, on the stem, made 
a windlass with two cranks, and fitted a belt around the 
windlass and the. pulley. We then drilled a hole in the 
end of the stem, cut a long thread on % rod, and screwed 
the rod in the end of the stem, placing a nut on this rod, 
which we could turn to suit the cut we wished to take 
and force the stem forward and back as we desired. 



128 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

It took three cuts through the engine cylinder, which 
was 14 inches by 28 inches, nialving it as smootli as when 
new. On the arrival of the rings they were inserted, 
causing a delay of tAvo and one-half days of a shut down 
after the rings arrived. 



PACKING MACHINERY. 

This cut represents one of the many ways in which 
machinery is packed into the mountains, where the build- 
ing of wagon roads is too expensive until the mines are 
more fully developed. In order to develop the mines 
there must be machinery brought in to test these pros- 
pects, and to do this the trail is the only road, and in 
most cases the prospector can not afford to make much 
of a trail through heavy growth of timber up and down 
steep mountains. And again, to reduce the size of the 
necessary machinery, so that a single pack animal can 
carry the heavy pieces, is another expense to be avoided, 
and the poor pack mule is the. one that the burden falls 
upon to carry the overload, the expense of which is being 
shunned by both mine owner and machinery builder. 
"When the builder overtaxes the capacity of the mule to 
such an extent that the poor animal lays down his burden 
in despair, his mate is brought in to share his load, 
or carry one end of two bars which are hung in a yoke 
that is fastened to the pack saddle in . the middle and 
extends down on each side of the mule. In the lower 
end of these yokes is hung a pole or scantling extending 
from one mule to the other, and on these poles is placed 
the heavy weight to be carried. The half hoop or yoke 



^-fc^^Miws^ . -r 7 ' ^ 










130 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

that extends down each side of the animal is allowed to 
swing backward and forward and is sufficiently wide to 
allow the animal to turn. 

The cut represents two mules carrying a pulley seven 
feet in diameter and weighing 700 pounds, which could 
not be carried on one animal. 



A TRAILING LETTER. 

The following lines will demonstrate how perfect a 
system of postal service we have in this country and 
Great Britain. 

During the eighties, while traveling through Kansas, 
which was then the home of an old schoolmate and life- 
long friend, I wrote him to once more renew our friendly 
relations, as it had been many years since we had seen 
each other. While young men we had followed the con- 
struction of the Union Pacific Railroad together and wit- 
nessed many exciting times, but as my friend had mar- 
ried and gone to live in what the frontier man called 
"bleeding" Kansas, and as my occupation sent me in 
other ways, we naturally drifted apart and apparently 
lost interest in each other, only to be renewed when 
anything transpired that brought back to memory the 
events of the past. When passing through his state the 
temptation to once more renew our friendship became 
too strong, and I wrote him, saying I would be in Port- 
land at about a stated time. 

In due time I arrived in Portland and from there 
went to Alaska, from there back to Portland, then to San 
Francisco, and from there to Chicago, then to New York, 
where I stayed a few days, going from there to London, 



A Trailing Letter. 131 

where I spent some time. On leaving London I came 
back to New York, where I stayed a few days, then 
returned to San Francisco, from which place I went to 
Alaska, from there again returning to Portland. 

It will be well to state that on leaving the hotels I 
always left particular orders for my mail to follow me, 
as I had some important business letters. However, on 
finally returning to Portland I was surprised to receive a 
letter from my old friend, schoolmate and frontier partner. 
This letter had followed me from Portland to Alaska, 
San Francisco, Chicago, Ncav York, London, back to New 
York, then to 'Frisco, back to Portland, again to Alaska, 
finally overtaking me in Portland, Oregon, after having 
traveled over 19,000 miles, fully demonstrating the won- 
derful postal facilities of two great nations. 

It was a double pleasure to receive such a letter after 
the wonderful journey it had made— yet a much greater 
surprise and pleasure was near at hand. 

As I was passing along First street, I heard my school- 
boy nickname called out, and on turning about, wonder- 
ing who should know me by the familiar cognomen of 
"Ike," who should I see but the writer of the letter 
referred to— my old schoolboy friend, H. E. Cowgill, and 
his brother Albert, across the street, waiting to see if the 
old time salutation was answered. A moment later there 
was a sincere greeting and hand-shaking by three men 
who had known each other as boys, but had not met for 
over thirty years. 

EARLY DAYS IN THE BLACK HILLS. 

In the spring of 1877, I got the gold fever from 
the manv fabulous stories which came from the Black 



132 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

Hills in Dakota, of the wonderful finds that were 
being made. During the previous year there had been 
many reports of rich gold discoveries on the Sioux Res- 
ervation, which was well guarded by both Indians and 
soldiers, and when a party of gold hunters or prospectors 
would break through the lines into the reservation they 
were either attacked by the Indians or pursued by the 
soldiers and brought out of the reservation. 

But these conditions could not last long. When 
gold is once known to exist in paying quantities, all the 
Indians in North America would not stop the prospector 
from exploring the supposed gold fields. When he once 
establishes the fact of the find, then comes the adjusting 
of any Indian treaties that might have existed. 

The opening to settlement of the reservation which 
followed the 1876 prospecting, was done contrary to law, 
but it resulted in one of the greatest gold discoveries 
in America. It has yielded many millions in gold and 
is still a large producer of the yellow metal. 

And I, like many thousands of young men, thought I 
saw vrhere I could increase my worldly possessions by 
roughing it for a few years. After getting all the infor- 
mation possible, I built a small stamp mill and with some 
friends set forth early in the spring of 1877, over the 
new route, by way of Fort Pierre on the ^Missouri River, 
and the Bad Lands. 

The boat we took was the first to land freight for the 
Fort Pierre route. We took a span of horses and a 
wagon for carrying our own baggage, but contracted 
with the Evans Transportation Company to haul our 
stamp mill and provisions. We took about a dozen pros- 
pectors with us, carrying their baggage and camp outfits, 



Early Days in the Black Hills. 133 

they walking in company Avitli us. We received fifteen 
dollars from each man for carrying 100 pounds of freight. 

Finally reaching the coveted laud of gold, we pitched 
our tent and commenced to reconnoiter for a site where 
we could erect our stamp mill. Not, however, without 
having a number of Indian scares, both on the route and 
after we reached Deadwood. 

One of the most exciting events occurred after we 
had pitched camp on what was then known as City 
Creek, just above the town site of Deadwood. While 
making plans for future moves, and waiting for our 
freight to arrive, there came a messenger into camp with 
the sad news that two men, one boy and a woman had 
been killed by the Indians on Spearfish Creek, some 
sixteen miles from Deadwood. 

In a short time a party of fourteen men were mounted 
on tired horses, making their way through the mud 
toward the scene of the massacre. Night soon came on, 
and with it a heavy rain which drenched every man to 
the skin. We backed up against some friendly pine 
trees for bed and shelter, and waited through the long 
night for break of day. Morning came at last and we 
moimted our hungry, shivering beasts and started for 
the scene of trouble. At 10 o'clock we had reached the 
place where the party had been most brutally slain by 
those who are so often called the poor, brave redmen. 
This subject, however. I Avill not at this time try to 
discuss. We were soon able to find the tracks of the 
fleeing redmen and pushed on in pursuit, feeling, how- 
ever, for many reasons, that we were on a hopeless chase. 
Our horses were in bad shape to make much of a chase, 
or to flee if pursued by our enemies; all of which was 



134 Reminiscences of Frontier Life. 

thought about and talked over. But we felt it our duty 
not to returu without making a good effort to revenge 
the death of the poor settlers who had been so mercilessly 
killed and mutilated by the savages. We finally struck 
a well beaten trail the fleeing band had made and which 
we could follow without delay. Following this trail some 
eight or ten miles we came to a sudden stop at the top 
of a hill. The hair on every man's head had a slight 
tendencj^ to raise, and not without good cause, for not 
more than three-fourths of a mile away, on the banks of 
a stream, there was a large Indian camp of tepees. With- 
out comment as to what was best to be done, each horse's 
head was turned and the spurs of persuasian were lib- 
erally applied to their flanks and sides, to quickly cover 
the distance between the seemingly quiet Indian camp, 
and the busy town of Deadwood. We did not succeed 
in capturing the murderers of the settlers, but later the 
soldiers captured Sitting Bull, and took his band of 
redmen to the reservation. This was about the last of 
the North American Indian warfare. With the civilizing 
or colonizing of the Indians came also the annihilation 
of the buffaloes, which supplied the Indians with food 
while in their native haunts. By the slaughtering of the 
buffalo, the Indians were compelled to come to the white 
man for domestic herds. 

We soon found that all the rocks in the Hills did 
not carry gold. We also found there were plenty of 
people who were hunting suckers, or in other words 
tenderfeet. After some days we concluded to go into the 
saw mill business instead of gold mining, and soon 
put our engine and boiler into operation with a party 
owning a saw mill. IMeanwhile, we kept up the still 
hunt for a gold mine, which is vet undiscovered. 



To 




H/immonD 



The Pioneer. 

Keep ever on.'ward, sturdy pioneer! 

Build neiv outposts, Tvith each succeeding year! 

Mo've on the boundaries, of mighty nations! 

Soiv the seeds of future ci'vilizations. 

Along the setting sun 's effulgent ray. 

As ivestTvard, ranks of progress take their <zyay. 

All honor to you ivho first blazed the trail. 

Through forest, mountain, desert, hill and vale; — 

Who, dro'he your herds across the grassy plain; 

Founding empires and planting fields of grain; — 

Building cities, Tvhere savage m)ig<wams stood. 

As monuments to lasting fortitude; — 

Who, harnessed Tvater, lightning, steam and air, 

And turned those mighty ivheels of commerce there; — 

Who, laid from sea to sea, those rails of steel. 

And o^er it sent the *Uron horse'' aiuheel; — 

Who, stretched electric m)ires around the Tvorld, 

And on strange seas those daring sails unfurled; — 

Who, founded schools Tvhere once roamed lion and bear f 

And builded homes for the brave and the fair. 

Empire builders, your <Tvork is nearly done; — 

Pioneers in thought, yours, has just begun, 

In'bentions v)ill increase human povjers. 

Future arts vfill beautify all flov)ers. 

Future muses Tvill sing us STveeter songs. 

Fair justice ivill right many present vjrongs. 

But if you Tvould broaden the manly scope. 

Look West, for there's the brightest star of hope, 

— Ediuard C, Morse, 

Note. — The foregoing poem was inscribed by the author, and prettily illus- 
trated, on a piece of Alaska cedar; the whole inscription being burned into the 
wood with the red-hot point of a metal tool. It was done at the "Sea-level 
Mine," near Ketchakan, Alaska, and sent to me at Portland as a Christmas 
gift, 1903. 



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